Government considering welcoming applicants outside of top 100 universities
Chief Secretary for Administration Eric Chan Kwok-ki has revealed that the Hong Kong government is considering welcoming applicants outside of the top 100 universities to its Top Talent Pass Scheme, according to reports.
One of the requirements to apply in the Top Talent Pass Scheme is that the applicant should come from the top 100 universities/institutions in four designated world university rankings in the past five years.
But Chan said the government is looking into easing this criterion to allow more employees from the mainland to apply in Hong Kong, The Standard reported.
"There are very good universities in the mainland which may not be in the top 100 universities in the world. We still want to open our door for them [to use the top talent pass scheme]," Chan said as quoted by the news outlet.
"I hope more mainland youngsters seize the opportunity, as they will be very beneficial to Hong Kong's productivity and labour force."
Hong Kong's Top Talent Pass Scheme seeks to "attract top talents with rich work experience and good academic qualifications from all over the world to explore opportunities in Hong Kong."
"These top talents include high-income talents and graduates from the world's top universities," the Immigration Department said on its website.
Chan made the remarks as he underscored that the number of talents "are never enough."
"The more talent, the better for Hong Kong," the chief secretary said as quoted by The Standard. "We hope such talent may even choose to settle in with their families so that our population structure can be healthier as the aging population and low birth rate will affect the labour force."
Nearly 90,000 applications have been lodged under the Top Talent Pass Scheme as of the end of June, where over 70,000 applications have been accepted.
Meanwhile, over 340,000 applications have been filed to the government under other talent schemes as of the end of last month.
Around 210,000 applications have been approved, according to Chan, while over 140,000 of the applicants have already arrived.
