The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, chaired the first meeting of the Human Resources Planning Commission today (April 9). At the meeting, members were briefed on Hong Kong’s labour market and manpower situation, and given an overview of the prevailing human resources policies. Members also considered initially the issues of promoting upward social mobility and attracting talent from other places in order to foster Hong Kong’s economic development.
 
        Members took note of the Government Economist’s analysis of Hong Kong’s existing labour market and manpower situation, as well as projections of future trends. Members recognised that an ageing population and expected dwindling of the labour force would pose challenges to manpower resources, and thereby impede Hong Kong’s long-term economic growth and development.
 
        The meeting noted the Government’s continuous efforts to implement a comprehensive population policy to rise to these challenges. Most policy measures are related to manpower resources. Members supported the continuous implementation of these ongoing initiatives and agreed that Hong Kong should build on the existing policy measures and formulate a targeted human resources strategy to tie in with the Government’s vision of developing Hong Kong into a high value-added and diversified economy.
 
        Members shared their views on the future directions that could be pursued to achieve this objective and agreed that more research should be conducted and engagement with stakeholders should be maintained in the process of devising a work plan and setting priorities for the human resources strategy.
 
        In addition, the meeting discussed initially the issues of promoting upward social mobility and how best to attract talent from other places to meet the enormous demand for talent in the local market. Members agreed that Hong Kong should enhance its efforts in attracting talents to ensure that Hong Kong would remain competitive amid the global rivalry for talent.
 
     The Commission has been established pursuant to an initiative proposed under the Chief Executive’s 2017 Policy Address. It aims to review and co-ordinate policies on human resources in a holistic manner and oversee the implementation of the population policy.
 

Ends/Monday, April 9, 2018
Issued at HKT 18:41

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