In an effort to attract more enterprises, investment and talent to Hong Kong, the Government will establish new institutional setups and implement an array of initiatives, Chief Executive John Lee said in his Policy Address today.

He noted that the Government will establish the Office for Attracting Strategic Enterprises (OASES), led by the Financial Secretary, for attracting such enterprises from the Mainland and overseas by offering them special facilitation measures and one-stop services.

It also plans to create the Talents Service Unit, led by the Chief Secretary for Administration, for formulating strategies to recruit talent from the Mainland and overseas and co-ordinating relevant work, as well as providing one-stop support for incoming talent.

Mr Lee added that the Government will set up dedicated teams for attracting businesses and talent in the Mainland offices and overseas Economic & Trade Offices (ETOs) of the Government to proactively reach out to target enterprises and talent with the goal of persuading them to pursue development in Hong Kong.

To achieve such an objective, $30 billion will be set aside from the Future Fund to establish the Co-Investment Fund for attracting enterprises to set up operations in Hong Kong and investing in their business.

Moreover, the Government will launch the Top Talent Pass Scheme to widely entire talent to pursue their careers in the city.

In addition to enhancing existing talent admission schemes to better attract talents, the Government will also allow eligible incoming talent to, upon becoming permanent residents, apply for a refund of the extra stamp duty paid for purchasing residential property in Hong Kong.

To attract strategic enterprises, the Chief Executive explained that OASES will be tasked with enticing enterprises from around the globe to come to Hong Kong, particularly those from industries of strategic importance, such as life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, financial technology (Fintech) and advanced manufacturing and new energy technology.

With the establishment of the Co-Investment Fund, the Government will consider co-investing in individual projects of the target enterprises, taking into account their potential to drive industry development in the city.

Given that the local workforce shrank by about 140,000 over the past two years, Mr Lee pointed out that apart from actively nurturing and retaining local talent, the Government will proactively trawl the world for talent by launching the Top Talent Pass Scheme for a period of two years.

Eligible talent will include individuals whose annual salary reached HK$2.5 million or above in the past year and those who graduated from the world's top 100 universities with at least three years of work experience over the past five years.

These two categories of talent will be issued a two-year pass for exploring opportunities in Hong Kong.

Furtermore, the Government will streamline the General Employment Policy and the Admission Scheme for Mainland Talents & Professionals such that for vacancies falling under the 13 professions with shortage of local supply as listed in the Talent List or for vacancies with an annual salary of HK$2 million or above, employers will not be required to provide proof to substantiate their difficulties in local recruitment in making applications for talent admission.

Apart from suspending the annual quota under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme for a period of two years and improving the approval process to attract more world-class talent to relocate to Hong Kong, the Government will also relax the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates by extending the limit of stay from one year to two years.

Enhancing the Technology Talent Admission Scheme is yet another plan. With a view to speeding up the talent admission, the Government will lift the requirement for technology firms to employ additional local employees while admitting talents outside Hong Kong.

It will also extend the limit of stay of employment visas so that talent admitted under the existing and newly launched talent admission schemes and securing employment may be issued with an employment visa which will be valid for a maximum period of three years.

What's more, the Government will refund the extra stamp duty paid by eligible incoming talent when purchasing residential property in the city.

The Chief executive emphasised that the Talents Service Unit will be a one-stop shop, co-ordinating with the Immigration Department to process applications received under the talent admission schemes and providing support services.

He outlined plans to set up teams for attracting businesses and talent to strengthen promotion in the Mainland and overseas. Such plans call for expanding the function of Mainland offices and overseas ETOs. A total of 17 offices will set up dedicated teams which will proactively reach out to enterprises and talent, liaise with the world's top 100 universities and promote related schemes.

Mr Lee stressed that since many sectors in Hong Kong are facing manpower shortages, relevant bureaus will listen to the views of the sectors and put forward real solutions.

As an example, while the Labour & Welfare Bureau (LWB) will launch a special scheme to allow the importation of care workers for residential care homes for the elderly and for those with disabilities on an appropriate scale, the Development Bureau and the Transport & Logistics Bureau plan to review the labour shortage situation in the construction and transport sectors to draw up relevant solutions.

The LWB will also commence a new round of manpower projections to help the Government formulate appropriate strategies to address the overall manpower demand.