The government-appointed Talents Development Committee held yesterday its secondary plenary meeting for this year, during which Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng noted that Macau approved over 460 applications under its talents scheme in the first quarter of this year, mainly involving enterprises’ senior managers, professionals, teachers and researchers, thereby “achieving the expected results”, while the committee’s Secretary-General Chao Chong Hang told reporters after the meeting that the new phase of the scheme will focus on strengthening the admission of “international” talents.
The government launched in July last year its talent admission schemes, namely “top talents”, “excellent talents”, and “senior professionals”. Among them, the “excellent talents scheme” requires that its applicants’ presence in Macau should be conducive to its appropriate economic diversification through the development of its four key industries, such as big health, high-tech, modern finance, as well as culture and sports.
Chao noted during the top advisory Executive Council’s (ExCo) regular press conference on Friday that the committee received over 1,000 applications under the first phase of its talent admission schemes, with about 80 percent of them from the mainland, about 10 percent from Hong Kong, and the remainder from Europe, America and elsewhere in Asia. He added that as of last Tuesday, 464 applicants had been included in the list of talents proposed by the committee to be admitted, comprising 22 top talents, 111 excellent talents and 331 senior professionals.
The second phase of the talent admission schemes are accepting applications from the three categories of talents under a total of nine schemes between May 21 and November 20.
Chaired by Ho, the about two-hour-long meeting briefed members on the talent acquisition data since the launch of the three schemes and the way forward for the next phase of enhancement.
In his opening remarks, Ho pledged that Macau will make full use of the unique institutional advantages of its “One Country, Two Systems” principle to strengthen the development of a platform of “international” quality talents and enhance its ties and cooperation with the “international” community, thereby attracting “international” high-end talents to develop their careers in Macau, in addition to innovative and entrepreneurial talents.
He indicated that the local government would endeavour to create a favourable environment for the development of talents’ careers in Macau, including optimising the city’s infrastructural facilities and improving its public sector’s service level and administrative efficiency, also promising that the government will provide greater facilitation for all talents to start up their businesses in Macau and, at the same time, make good arrangements for the education of their children.
The third phase of the schemes is expected to commence in the first quarter of next year after the formation of Macau’s new government, according to Chao, who underlined that “in the third phase, we will focus on strengthening the admission of international talents, such as those with international working experience and even those from Portuguese-speaking countries”.
Chao pointed out the additional condition for the third phase, saying that in line with the central government’s positioning of Macau as a “high concentration of international high-end talents”, those with international working experience “may be given preferential treatment in terms of scores”. However, he was quick to add that since its inception, the talent admission schemes have been open to people from all over the world, with no regional restrictions.
Summarising the closed-door meeting to the media yesterday at the World Trade Centre Macau (WTCM) in Nape, Chao said that 464 applicants from the first phase of the schemes had already been considered for inclusion in the talent list, with 24 from the second phase so far, so that more than 600 of their family members would move to Macau.
In terms of their expected income, Chao said that the average annual income of excellent talents stood at over four million patacas, while the average annual income for senior professionals amounted to over one million patacas.
There would be stringent vetting of academic qualifications, working experience, salaries and annual income, Chao stressed.
Meanwhile, Ho also said in his opening remarks during yesterday’s meeting that apart from bringing in outside talents, the government also attaches great importance to the nurturing and use of local talents, adding that the government would also put in place a more comprehensive talent selection mechanism to enable local talents to play a greater role in Macau’s key industries and critical areas.
The media were allowed to cover Ho’s remarks, after which the meeting was held behind closed doors.
Talents Development Committee Secretary-General Chao Chong Hang (from left to right), Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Elsie Ao Ieong U, Chief Executive Ho Iat Seng, Ao Ieong’s Office Chief Ho Ioc San, and Policy Research and Regional Development Bureau (DSEPDR) Director Cheong Chok Man look on during the Talents Development Committee’s second plenary meeting of this year at the World Trade Centre Macau (WTCM) in Nape yesterday. – Photos: Yuki Lei
Talents Development Committee Secretary-General Chao Chong Hang speaks to reporters after yesterday afternoon’s closed-door meeting.
