Fostering Talent

108.    There is keen competition among economies under the "new economic order".  For Hong Kong to stay competitive, we need to have a pool of talents familiar with innovation and technology and equipped with professional skills.  The talents must have broad horizons and a solid grasp of international affairs, so that they can contribute towards the diversified development of Hong Kong as a knowledge-based economy and help open up new markets.

109.    Education has long been a major area of recurrent government expenditure.  Expenditure on education for 2016-17 is $75 billion, accounting for 21.5 per cent of recurrent government expenditure.  It represents an increase of 70 per cent over ten years.

110.    With good basic education in general, the generations born in the 1980s and the 1990s have become the lifeblood of different sectors.  Government will continue to invest heavily in nurturing talents.  Apart from our ongoing efforts to enhance the quality of education, we shall also offer more internship and exchange opportunities to students and encourage the workforce to pursue continuing education, developing a good mix of generalists and professionals in Hong Kong.  This will help our new generations maintain their competitive edge and realise their potential under the "new economic order".