Hong Kong Offers Visas, Perks to Reverse Brain Drain After Losing 140,000 From Workforce
By Elaine Yu and Selina Cheng, Oct. 19, 2022, WSJ

HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s chief executive announced incentives to lure talent and companies to the city, seeking to reverse an outflow driven by years of stringent pandemic controls and political upheaval that have hurt its reputation as a global
business capital.

John Lee, who took the city’s top office in July, unveiled plans to give two-year visas to high earners and graduates from the world’s top 100 universities, tax breaks to some foreign-property buyers who go on to become permanent residents and
benefits to companies. Companies will also be able to hire mainland professionals more easily under the plans.

Hong Kong must be more “proactive and aggressive” in competing for top workers and companies, Mr. Lee said in his first annual policy address on Wednesday, adding that about 140,000 people had left the city’s local workforce over the last two years.
More than 60% of those were highly skilled, including those who had worked in management positions or had professional qualifications, according to the government.

“Apart from actively nurturing and retaining local talents, the government will proactively trawl the world for talents,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Lee, a former senior policeman, put an emphasis on restoring the city’s international role as a business and finance hub after years of pandemic controls as well as social turmoil that led to a national-security crackdown. That crackdown has
stifled freedoms in the Chinese city and drawn the ire of Western governments. In recent months, the city has been rolling back Covid-19 border restrictions and social-gathering rules, though it retains a mask mandate, many tests for arrivals and a
vaccine pass to enter venues including restaurants, lagging behind rivals such as Singapore that have opened more fully.

Foreign and local business leaders have complained that the city’s isolation has reduced its competitiveness. In a ranking of the world’s global financial centers released last month, Hong Kong fell behind Singapore, a regional rival to which some
departing the city have relocated.

Paul Chan, Hong Kong’s financial secretary, responded earlier this month by saying that Hong Kong retained many advantages and that its financial and stock markets were much larger.

Iñaki Amate, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said that while they welcomed the various initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining talent, the government missed an opportunity to address the most immediate concern of the
international business community, which is when the city’s Covid-19 controls will end.

The measures’ “impact is probably going to be diluted because there’s still a perception outside Hong Kong that Hong Kong remains a semi-locked place,” Mr. Amate said. “You’re targeting people that are probably in high demand, people that can
choose between different employers and different markets,” he added.

More than two years of harsh travel and social restrictions have hurt the city’s consumer economy and decimated the tourism and business-travel sectors. Hong Kong’s real GDP was down from a year earlier in two consecutive quarters—by 3.9% in the
first quarter of 2022 and 1.3% in the second.

‘You’re targeting people that are probably in high demand, people that can choose between different employers and different markets.’

The monthly number of passengers who passed through Hong Kong’s once-bustling international airport in September was less than 10% of prepandemic levels, official data show.

Mr. Lee cautioned against lifting all restrictions for inbound travelers, saying that the number of Covid-19 cases in the city has gone up since hotel quarantine was scrapped. He gave no hint as to when the remaining Covid-19 measures for travelers will
be removed. The government plans to signal Hong Kong is back in business as an international hub in November with a high-profile global banking summit and a rugby tournament.

Hong Kong will create a new office this year to draw up a list of target enterprises to try to bring to the city, particularly those in the financial-technology, artificial-intelligence and data-science sectors. They will be offered tailor-made perks
related to tax, financing and visas, Mr. Lee said. Another unit will be tasked with formulating strategies to recruit talent.

The government will earmark the equivalent of about $3.8 billion for a fund to attract companies to set up operations in Hong Kong. Some university graduates and those with a salary of about $318,000 or above could apply for passes to explore
opportunities in the city, Mr. Lee said.

Other measures sought to get people to stay in Hong Kong for the longer term. A 15% property tax targeting foreigners who bought a home could be refunded if those who entered the city under talent-admission schemes became permanent residents after living
in Hong Kong for seven years.

A migration program popular with mainland Chinese workers in the financial, accounting and IT sectors would scrap its annual quota of 4,000 people.

For jobs in professions such as asset management and dispute resolution where labor supply is short, employers would no longer have to give priority to local candidates before hiring mainland and overseas professionals.

Hong Kong’s stock exchange will revise listing rules on its main board next year to benefit advanced-technology companies that haven’t met the bourse’s profit and trading-record requirements, Mr. Lee said, to enhance the city’s position as a
place for fundraising. The government will also introduce a bill this year to offer tax concessions for eligible family offices, with a goal of enticing at least 200 such offices to set up or expand their operations in Hong Kong by the end of 2025, he
added.

After Beijing imposed a sweeping national-security law in 2020 to wipe out protests that engulfed the city the year before, Mr. Lee said the Hong Kong government is preparing to enact more local security and antisubversion laws that could target
crowdfunding activities and false information. He didn’t provide details or a timetable.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-seeks-to-reverse-brain-drain-with-visas-for-top-graduates-high-earners-11666158336

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* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)

On Tuesday, October 25, 2022 at 2:12:30 AM UTC+8, David P. wrote:

Hong Kong Offers Visas, Perks to Reverse Brain Drain After Losing 140,000 From Workforce
By Elaine Yu and Selina Cheng, Oct. 19, 2022, WSJ

HONG KONG—Hong Kong’s chief executive announced incentives to lure talent and companies to the city, seeking to reverse an outflow driven by years of stringent pandemic controls and political upheaval that have hurt its reputation as a global

business capital.

John Lee, who took the city’s top office in July, unveiled plans to give two-year visas to high earners and graduates from the world’s top 100 universities, tax breaks to some foreign-property buyers who go on to become permanent residents and

benefits to companies. Companies will also be able to hire mainland professionals more easily under the plans.

Hong Kong must be more “proactive and aggressive” in competing for top workers and companies, Mr. Lee said in his first annual policy address on Wednesday, adding that about 140,000 people had left the city’s local workforce over the last two

years. More than 60% of those were highly skilled, including those who had worked in management positions or had professional qualifications, according to the government.

“Apart from actively nurturing and retaining local talents, the government will proactively trawl the world for talents,” Mr. Lee said.

Mr. Lee, a former senior policeman, put an emphasis on restoring the city’s international role as a business and finance hub after years of pandemic controls as well as social turmoil that led to a national-security crackdown. That crackdown has

stifled freedoms in the Chinese city and drawn the ire of Western governments. In recent months, the city has been rolling back Covid-19 border restrictions and social-gathering rules, though it retains a mask mandate, many tests for arrivals and a
vaccine pass to enter venues including restaurants, lagging behind rivals such as Singapore that have opened more fully.

Foreign and local business leaders have complained that the city’s isolation has reduced its competitiveness. In a ranking of the world’s global financial centers released last month, Hong Kong fell behind Singapore, a regional rival to which some

departing the city have relocated.

Paul Chan, Hong Kong’s financial secretary, responded earlier this month by saying that Hong Kong retained many advantages and that its financial and stock markets were much larger.

Iñaki Amate, chairman of the European Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong, said that while they welcomed the various initiatives aimed at attracting and retaining talent, the government missed an opportunity to address the most immediate concern of the

international business community, which is when the city’s Covid-19 controls will end.

The measures’ “impact is probably going to be diluted because there’s still a perception outside Hong Kong that Hong Kong remains a semi-locked place,” Mr. Amate said. “You’re targeting people that are probably in high demand, people that

can choose between different employers and different markets,” he added.

More than two years of harsh travel and social restrictions have hurt the city’s consumer economy and decimated the tourism and business-travel sectors. Hong Kong’s real GDP was down from a year earlier in two consecutive quarters—by 3.9% in the

first quarter of 2022 and 1.3% in the second.

‘You’re targeting people that are probably in high demand, people that can choose between different employers and different markets.’

The monthly number of passengers who passed through Hong Kong’s once-bustling international airport in September was less than 10% of prepandemic levels, official data show.

Mr. Lee cautioned against lifting all restrictions for inbound travelers, saying that the number of Covid-19 cases in the city has gone up since hotel quarantine was scrapped. He gave no hint as to when the remaining Covid-19 measures for travelers

will be removed. The government plans to signal Hong Kong is back in business as an international hub in November with a high-profile global banking summit and a rugby tournament.

Hong Kong will create a new office this year to draw up a list of target enterprises to try to bring to the city, particularly those in the financial-technology, artificial-intelligence and data-science sectors. They will be offered tailor-made perks

related to tax, financing and visas, Mr. Lee said. Another unit will be tasked with formulating strategies to recruit talent.

The government will earmark the equivalent of about $3.8 billion for a fund to attract companies to set up operations in Hong Kong. Some university graduates and those with a salary of about $318,000 or above could apply for passes to explore

opportunities in the city, Mr. Lee said.

Other measures sought to get people to stay in Hong Kong for the longer term. A 15% property tax targeting foreigners who bought a home could be refunded if those who entered the city under talent-admission schemes became permanent residents after

living in Hong Kong for seven years.

A migration program popular with mainland Chinese workers in the financial, accounting and IT sectors would scrap its annual quota of 4,000 people.

For jobs in professions such as asset management and dispute resolution where labor supply is short, employers would no longer have to give priority to local candidates before hiring mainland and overseas professionals.

Hong Kong’s stock exchange will revise listing rules on its main board next year to benefit advanced-technology companies that haven’t met the bourse’s profit and trading-record requirements, Mr. Lee said, to enhance the city’s position as a

place for fundraising. The government will also introduce a bill this year to offer tax concessions for eligible family offices, with a goal of enticing at least 200 such offices to set up or expand their operations in Hong Kong by the end of 2025, he
added.

After Beijing imposed a sweeping national-security law in 2020 to wipe out protests that engulfed the city the year before, Mr. Lee said the Hong Kong government is preparing to enact more local security and antisubversion laws that could target

crowdfunding activities and false information. He didn’t provide details or a timetable.

https://www.wsj.com/articles/hong-kong-seeks-to-reverse-brain-drain-with-visas-for-top-graduates-high-earners-11666158336

All those 2-year visa to high earners will not hold them. In fact, high earner will prefer to travel and move where they wish to reside. Those property tax rebates are not fair to the locals and others. It is not necessary, as high earners do not need
them to pay for their home. Seriously, any high earner or not, has their own choice of environment to work or to live. Therefore, what is needed is to have a discipline environment for people to work and live in the territory. If those environment
factors met their needs, they will come on their own too. There is no need to offer incentives for high earners as they have no problem with their high earning power to pay and spend on it.

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: fsxNet Usenet Gateway (21:1/5)