Impressive numbers on incoming talent

Over 9,200 people labeled as being top talent under a new visa scheme plus 8,300 of their dependents have arrived in Hong Kong or will be here within six months, Secretary for Labour and Welfare Chris Sun Yuk-han has revealed.

He also noted that many of the successful applicants are mainlanders.

Sun also said in Ta Kung Pao that authorities are reviewing the Top Talent Pass Scheme and considering adding more mainland universities to the approved list. There are currently nine on the list.

The scheme, launched in late December, targets graduates from the world's top 176 institutions with at least three years of work experience over the past five years.

Sun also said that by last month 12,000 out of around 20,000 applications had been approved. And 200 new applications were being received daily.

The scheme received an enthusiastic response, Sun said, "and has far exceeded our expectations."

Half of the applicants, or about 9,900, are graduates from top universities with at least three years of work experience while 22 percent of applicants are earning at least HK$2.5 million annually.

The remaining 27 percent are fresh graduates with less than three years of work experience, and they are subject to an annual quota of 10,000.

Among some 12,000 approved applications, 80 percent are aged under 40, which meets the SAR's shortage of management and professional workers aged under 59.

Big earners also have a higher rate of applying with dependents, the labor secretary noted, with each approved applicant having an average of 1.46 dependents.

On that, Sun said dependents "will become part of us and make a contribution to Hong Kong."

As for authorities reviewing the scheme and considering adding more top universities to the list, some of those now in focus are top institutes in the mainland.

The scheme was first highlighted in the policy address last October.

It came in the wake of the SAR losing about 140,000 people in the past two years due to emigration.

Authorities now hope at least 35,000 talented individuals will come to Hong Kong annually over the next three years.

Meanwhile, employers no longer need to provide proof to substantiate the difficulties in local recruitment when hiring professionals from overseas and the mainland for the 13 talent-hungry sectors in the SAR.

The change came after authorities streamlined the application procedures in the General Employment Policy and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talent and Professionals in December.

The Immigration Department has received 330 applications for the two schemes.