Pooling of Talent
46. In a globalised economy, those places which can pool the most talent are the most successful. We must nurture and attract the best talent to maintain our competitive edge.
47. In order to increase the competitiveness of local talent, we will improve the quality of our formal education and enhance training and retraining with more investment in these areas. Another of our objectives is to attract more undergraduates from outside Hong Kong to study in local tertiary institutions on exchange programmes. Such programmes will give exchange students a deeper understanding of Hong Kong and the Mainland; and, in return, our students on exchange will benefit from the experience of learning and living abroad. Student exchange programmes create a multicultural environment on campus. This will broaden our younger generation's outlook on life, and will help to develop Hong Kong over time as the regional centre for education. The Secretary for Education and Manpower will also consider how to attract more full-time tertiary students from abroad. To produce all-round tertiary students, hostel life is an important part of higher education. In this connection, I propose to provide 1 800 additional hostel places, at a total cost of roughly $350 million. Such an enhancement will benefit both our local students and exchange students by meeting their accommodation needs, and increase our institutions' attractiveness as centres for exchange activities.
48. We must make a greater effort to recruit overseas and Mainland talent who have made a mark in their chosen professions. I am pleased to announce that the Chief Executive in Council has endorsed the introduction in the first half of the year of the uality Migrant Scheme?(QMS) to attract such talent. Applicants will be required to meet certain eligibility criteria in respect of, inter alia, academic attainment, professional qualifications and work experience, but without needing to have secured prior employment. The Government will assess applications in accordance with an objective marking scheme. The QMS will have a quota of 1 000 entrants a year. Successful applicants will be allowed to enter Hong Kong and stay for one year, accompanied by their spouses and children. The Secretary for Security will shortly announce further details.
49. Hong Kong's economic development needs to move forward in tandem on many fronts and the pooling of talent is an integral part of this process.
