HONG KONG – A newly established panel of advisers has urged the Hong Kong government to enhance training and use of local talent to strengthen support for the future development of the special administrative region.

The call came at the inaugural engagement session of the Committee on Education, Technology and Talents (CETT), led by Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki, with the panel of advisers to the CETT on Wednesday.

The two-year term of the panel – a high-level exchange platform comprising members from various sectors, including community leaders and professionals – began on Monday.

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At Wednesday’s session titled "Building Hong Kong into an international hub for high-caliber talent”, the panel engaged in in-depth discussions on the objective of establishing the HKSAR as a global high-caliber talent hub.

The advisers affirmed the effectiveness of the current-term government's talent attraction measures, adding that the city can position its “eight centers” concept more precisely in view of external challenges, while refining the measures enacted to further enhance the effectiveness and diversity of the talent pool.

The panel agreed to intensify efforts to attract teaching and research talent with an aim to establish the SAR as an international education hub, and to leverage the Hong Kong Park area of the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone to provide more development opportunities for promising technology startups and talent.

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The session also reviewed Hong Kong's overall population and labor force situation, and the progress being made in talent attraction and retention.

In the face of an aging population and pressure on the labor supply, the panel expressed its support for the HKSAR government’s introduction of timely and appropriate measures in response to these challenges.

Expressing gratitude for the members' acceptance of their appointments, the chief secretary said he looked forward to working closely with them to pool wisdom and ideas with a view to promoting the integrated development of education, technology, and talent.

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The members of the advisory panel are: Dr Sunny Chai Ngai-chiu, Dr Bunny Chan Chung-bun, Simon Chan Sai-ming, Chow Chung-kong, Professor Chow Man-kong, Professor Chelsea Jiang Chang, Professor Gabriel Matthew Leung, Professor Daniel Long Zhuoyu, Tim Lui Tim-leung, Joseph Luc Ngai, Hendrick Sin, and Peter Wong Tung-shun.