Politics

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu delivered his maiden policy address yesterday after his swearing-in. His speech this year clocked two hours and 45 minutes, seven minutes longer than the previous chief executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor’s longest policy address last year. Using President Xi Jinping's speech on June 1 as a blueprint for the administration of the current government, Lee announced a series of policies to leverage Hong Kong’s unique advantage of “enjoying strong support of the motherland while being closely connected to the world under the ‘One Country, Two Systems.’” Here are key takeaways from his first policy address speech: Wooing talents More than 140,000 workers left the city in the past two years. To attract and retain talents, Lee said the territory will be aggressive in “competing for enterprises” and “competing for talents”. Lee said the Top Talent Pass Scheme will be launched for two years. Eligible applicants, including those who earned at least HK$2.5 million in the past year or graduated from one of the top 100 universities in the world, will be issued a two-year work visa.  Quotas on the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, in which “highly skilled or talented persons” are able to apply for work visas, will be lifted for two years. Stamp duty for property purchased by non-permanent residents, which is 30% of the property price, will be refunded when they become Hong Kong permanent residents.   Increasing housing supply  Lee said solving the housing shortage is his top priority.  Currently, applicants need to wait about six years to live in public housing. Lee said the government will “cap the waiting time immediately” by introducing new “light public housing” and increasing the supply of traditional public units. The government will build at least 30,000 simple light public housing for transitional homes …

The Hong Kong government will invest $10 billion to foster technological innovations in universities and formulate a plan to attract foreign high-tech companies to set up offices and R&D centres in Hong Kong to build it into a global high-tech hub. Chief Executive Lee Ka-chiu said that the government will launch the "Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint" to formulate key policies on four development directions. “I&T (Innovation and Technology) provides key impetus for Hong Kong’s high-quality economic development,” said Lee. Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Development Blueprint I&T ecosystem  Talent Pool Smart city International Development  1. Promote commercialisation of research and development outcomes  2. Promote the development of technology industry 3. Press ahead with re-industrialisation 4. Strengthening infrastructure 1. Introduce leading international innovation and technology talents by collaborating 2. Optimising the   existing technology talent plan 3. Increase accommodation support 1. Expand 5G Networks 2. Share database to company in I&T sector 1. Strengthen the cooperation with Shenzhen 2. Attracting enterprises  Under the proposal, the government will set up a $10 billion “Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme” next year to support the development of the technology industry in local universities. Matching funds will be provided to at least 100 research teams in universities, aiming to help them transform their ideas into products. "Although many scientific research teams in colleges and universities can obtain seed funds to start enterprises, they often fail to have further development or even commercialisation because angel investors and venture capital investors are more cautious, " said Shum Yu-yiu, an awardee of HK Tech 300 HK Tech 300 is a program launched by the City University of Hong Kong to help its students who are aspiring entrepreneurs. According to Startmeup HK, a government agency set up to promote startup companies in Hong Kong, …

Hong Kong’s Chief Executive John Lee announced plans on Wednesday during his policy address to provide 72,000 additional private housing units and 30,000 temporary public flats within the next five years, but experts say that will not be enough to meet the demand. In his first policy address, Lee said the government’s plan to boost land supply will result in an additional 72,000 private housing units to be ready by 2027.  He said the government was also planning to build 30,000 temporary, easily constructed public housing units called “Light Public Housing (LPH)” by 2027. That will increase the Public Rental Housing (PRH) units by 25%.  “Those on the waiting list for traditional PRH for three years or more may apply for LPH for earlier allocation of units, and priority will be given to family applicants,” he added. About 144,200 general applicants are waiting for a PRH unit as of June 2022, and there are an additional 98,400 non-elderly one-person applicants under the Quota and Points System. The average waiting time for general applicants in the past 12 months was six years, according to the Hong Kong Housing Authority. Lee said that the demand for private housing in the next 10 years would be 129,000 units. He anticipated the overall supply will exceed projected demand, as the number of new PRH and the LPH units will add up to 102,000. However, some experts disagree. “The new policy will make a difference and have a positive effect on Hong Kong's housing problem, but it remains to be seen whether it will be able to meet the actual market demand,” said Sze Ming-yu, chairperson of the Land Registry Joint Standing Committee. KK Chiu, the Chief Executive of Greater China of Cushman & Wakefield, said housing issues have always been a major concern for …

Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu wants to attract new foreign talents to Hong Kong with a two-year working visa for eligible university graduates and high-earning professionals.  The Hong Kong government will launch the Top Talent Pass Scheme, said Lee in his inaugural policy address this morning.  Graduates from the world’s top 100 universities with at least three years of work experience over the past five years are eligible. Graduates with no work experience are also eligible with a cap of 10,000 a year. Applicants with an annual salary of HK$ 2.5 million or above can also apply for the visa. “The government will proactively trawl the world for talents,” Lee said.  According to the Census and Statistics Department, Hong Kong has lost around 140,000 workers in the past two years. The scheme may not have an impact on attracting talents whose salary is below the requirements, Tang Hei-hang, an assistant professor of education policy from the Education University of Hong Kong said. In Hong Kong, job titles that earn HK$2.5 million or higher include chief information officer and chief financial officer, according to an article by recruiting company, Michael Page.  “Although not many professionals are able to meet the requirements, the policy would be effective in its own way,”Tang added. Tang said that the quota of 10,000 for fresh graduates is reasonable. Ibitit Hashmi, who just got her mechanical engineering degree at the University of Glasgow and is eligible for the visa, said that she will not come to Hong Kong as a high salary may not be guaranteed. The average annual salary of a mechanical engineer in Scotland is £40,413 (HK$357,158) while only HK$317,055 in Hong Kong, according to job search engine Adzuna.  “With the low tax rate and high quality of education, Hong Kong still has its attractiveness …