Talents Development Committee Secretary-General Chao Chong Hang said yesterday that the committee has approved the setting-up of four task-force teams to handle the import of talents for Macau’s four emerging industries – big health, hi-tech, modern finance, and conventions and exhibitions including culture and sport, respectively.
Chao made the remarks on the sidelines of yesterday’s plenary session of the Talents Development Committee held at the World Trade Centre Macau in Nape, adding that the government-appointed committee yesterday also set up a task-force team to advise on the import of high-end talents.
Chao said that the new arrangement aims to support the implementation of a law on the setting-up of a new system to attract qualified human resources – officially referred to as “talents” – from outside Macau in order to promote the special administrative region’s appropriate economic diversification and improve local businesses’ competitiveness, which took effect on July 1.
Addressing yesterday’s meeting, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, who chairs the committee, underlined that the world is competing in hiring professional talents with an international outlook and the ability to innovate on their own. Ho said that talents were now the key targets of regional competition.
Ho also said he hoped that in the future the committee could help Macau bring in talents needed for its economic development, while focusing on promoting the development of the government’s new strategy known as “1+4” through science and technology innovation.
The government’s “1+4” strategy refers to the further development of Macau’s tourism and leisure industries but with additional focus on four emerging industries.
According to Chao, various talent import schemes will be launched, the application criteria and assessment criteria of which will be announced in August.
Chao reaffirmed that the committee will approve the import of about 1,000 talents to Macau. However, Chao stressed that the figure was only a reference and was subject to adjustment, adding that the number of talents to be imported under different schemes will be announced accordingly.
Chao underlined that if the number of applicants is low or the quality is not up to standard, the committee would not import as many as it could just to fill the stipulated quotas deliberately, adding that information on the number of applicants, their academic qualifications, industry segments and age groups will be published regularly for members of the public to monitor.
The government-appointed Talents Development Committee holds its first plenary meeting at the World Trade Centre Macau in Nape yesterday, with Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng (centre, in front of stage) chairing the meeting. – Photo: GCS
