Hong Kong must win global battle for talent: CE
Chief Executive John Lee on Sunday said Hong Kong needs to win a global battle for talent if it is to avoid finding itself at a competitive disadvantage. Speaking on a radio programme, Lee said a shrinking workforce and the loss of some talented employees had been the key reasons why Hong Kong recently dropped two places in a global competitiveness ranking – the World Competitiveness Yearbook. "When there are no talented people and workers, there won't be productivity, and this affects the competitiveness of the SAR. This has a negative effect on the whole society because there are not enough economic activities and the service level is poor," he said. Last month, the government announced plans to bring in 20,000 overseas construction and transport workers. Separately, authorities also planned to add more mainland universities to the Top Talent Pass Scheme, which is currently open to graduates from the world's top 100 universities. Lee said importing "just enough” non-local workers was not ideal. "When talking about competitiveness, it's not only about importing an adequate number of outside workers. We have to win!"  "Every place is competing for talents. We have to be more proactive so that we won't be at a disadvantage," he added.