The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, attended a seminar in Beijing this morning (December 6) together with the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun, and the Director of Hong Kong Talent Engage, Mr Anthony Lau. The seminar was convened by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security (MoHRSS) to exchange views on promoting talent exchanges and co-operation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) and to deepen and forge the work of building Hong Kong into an international hub for high-calibre talent. Vice Minister of Human Resources and Social Security Mr Wu Xiuzhang, Deputy Secretary General of the People’s Government of Guangdong Province Mr Sun Zhe, and Deputy Director of the Education and Youth Development Bureau of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government Mr Teng Sio-hong also attended the meeting and delivered speeches.  
     　
     At the seminar, Mr Chan said that, "This year marks a fruitful year for integrated talent development in the GBA, achieving various significant milestones, including the signing of the framework agreement on promoting Guangdong-Hong Kong talent co-operation between the Guangdong Provincial Government and the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government in January this year, and establishing a co-operation mechanism to enhance co-operation between the two places in respect of talent cultivation, attraction, and exchanges. In May this year, to further attract and retain talent, the 9+2 cities of the GBA signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to jointly strengthen services provided for talent in the region and create an environment more favourable for talent settling down."
      
     Mr Chan said that Hong Kong has brought together diversified talent from around the globe, and has served as a window for outside talent for the GBA and the country. Hong Kong will play the important roles of building an international hub for post-secondary education, attracting innovation and technology talent and leading technology enterprises, and strengthening Hong Kong's status as an international talent hub, with a view to making greater contributions to Hong Kong and the country's high-quality development, and accelerating the process of building China into a great country through modernisation.
      
     "Each city of the GBA possesses unique advantages on development, and has ample room for collaboration. Looking ahead, I have confidence that Hong Kong will build on our past efforts to continue to enhance the GBA's strategic planning on areas including the admission, nurturing and mobility of talent, with a view to expediting the enhancement of the ability to attract and gather talent in the GBA to make a greater contribution to the high-quality development of our country," Mr Chan concluded.
      
     Witnessed by Mr Chan, Mr Sun signed at the seminar an MOU on behalf of the Labour and Welfare Bureau of the HKSAR Government, together with the MoHRSS, the Human Resources and Social Security Department of Guangdong Province (GDHRSSD), and the Talent Development Committee of the Macao Special Administrative Region Government (MTDC). The MOU will help the GBA to jointly build a pilot international hub for high-calibre talent, a demonstration zone of interface and reform of talent-related regulations, a strategic fulcrum of innovation and entrepreneurship of talent in the GBA, an innovative co-operation zone of skilled workforce training, and a high-quality development zone of human resources. The MOU will consolidate efforts of different parties and expedite the creation of a strategic fulcrum for the building of a talent-rich country.
     　
     The seminar was attended by the MoHRSS, the GDHRSSD, and the MTDC, together with representatives from the Human Resources and Social Security Bureau of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Zhuhai of Guangdong Province, etc.
     　
     Mr Chan and the delegation will depart from Beijing for Hong Kong this afternoon.

Ends/Friday, December 6, 2024
Issued at HKT 15:55

NNNN