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The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), Mr John Lee, delivered his inaugural Policy Address, entitled “Charting a Brighter Tomorrow for Hong Kong” on 19 October, outlining his initiatives for the city’s development in the next five years. |
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Attract Enterprises, Investment and Talents to Enhance Competitiveness
Mr Lee highlighted the HKSAR Government’s strategies to compete for enterprises and talents to strengthen the city’s competitiveness, which include setting up an Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES) and a Top Talent Pass Scheme.
The OASES, led by the Financial Secretary, will be established within this year to attract high-potential and representative strategic enterprises from around the globe, particularly those from industries of strategic importance, such as life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, financial technology, and advanced manufacturing and new energy technology, by offering them special facilitation measures and one-stop services.
The Top Talent Pass Scheme will be launched within this year to widely entice talents. Eligible talents, as set out below, would be issued a two-year pass for exploring opportunities in Hong Kong:
- Individuals whose annual salary reached HK$2.5 million or above in the past year, not subject to any quota; or
- Individuals graduated from the world’s top 100 universities with at least three years of work experience over the past five years, not subject to any quota; or
- Individuals who graduated from the world’s top 100 universities in the past five years and have yet to fulfil the work experience requirement, subject to an annual quota of 10 000.
The HKSAR Government will also set aside HK$30 billion to establish a Co-Investment Fund aimed at attracting enterprises to set up operations in Hong Kong and invest in their businesses.
Other initiatives include establishing a Talents Service Unit, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, to co-ordinate work for recruiting talents and provide them with one-stop support; setting up Dedicated Teams for Attracting Businesses and Talents in the Mainland offices and overseas Economic and Trade Offices; enhancing existing talent admission schemes; and allowing eligible incoming talents to, upon becoming permanent residents, apply for a refund of the extra stamp duty paid for purchasing residential property in Hong Kong.
Reinforce Traditional Advantages and Develop Emerging Industries
The 14th Five-Year Plan has supported the development of the “eight centres” in Hong Kong. The HKSAR Government’s priority is to reinforce Hong Kong’s position as an international financial centre, and promote the development of two emerging industries, namely innovation and technology (I&T) and arts and culture.
The HKSAR Government will enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness in financial services by facilitating large-scale advanced technology enterprises to list in Main Board, promoting the launch of more Renminbi-dominated investment tools, strengthening mutual market access, and developing green and sustainable finance.
With I&T being a core development focus of the HKSAR Government, Mr Lee set out a four-pronged strategy for taking Hong Kong’s I&T development to the next level. The key areas include enhancing the city’s I&T ecosystem, enlarging the I&T talent pool, developing Hong Kong into a smart city and proactively integrating into overall national development. The HKSAR Government will set up a HK$10 billion “Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme” to support commercialisation of research and development outcomes by university research teams, and will work to attract not less than 100 high-potential or representative I&T enterprises to set up or expand their businesses in Hong Kong in next five years, including at least 20 top-notch I&T enterprises.
To expedite Hong Kong’s progression into an East-meets-West centre for international cultural exchange, Mr Lee highlighted the need to foster creative talents and attract leading lights in arts and culture from around the world to Hong Kong. A Mega Arts and Cultural Events Fund will be set up to support the staging of international arts and cultural events in Hong Kong.
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Please find the full document, supplement, highlights leaflets, and relevant press releases of the 2022 Policy Address at the hyperlinks. |
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