Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai said yesterday that the government will launch the third phase of its talent acquisition programme later this year, with further improvements to its modus operandi based on experience gained from the implementation of the programme’s first two phases.
Sam made the remarks in a speech while chairing this year’s first plenary meeting of the government-appointed Talents Development Committee at Government Headquarters in Nam Van.
The meeting, which was held behind closed doors, was open to the media at the start when Sam made his opening speech.
The committee comprises government officials from various public entities, as well as professionals from various sectors from civil society appointed by the government.
The chief executive noted in his speech that the government rolled out the first and second phases of its talent acquisition programme in 2023 and 2024 respectively, since Macau’s current legal system for acquiring talents from outside Macau came into force in July 2023.
Sam noted that after the evaluation of applications by the Talents Development Committee and another assessment committee, about 750 individuals from outside Macau were included in the recommended talent acquisition lists in the programme’s first two phases, primarily including corporate executives, professionals for emerging industries, and teaching and research personnel.
Sam underlined that the acquisition of talents from outside Macau through the programme’s first two phases have achieved results as expected by the government, injecting new vitality into the city’s appropriate economic diversification campaign.
Sam said that after summarising the experiences gained from the implementation of the programme’s first two phases, the government will make further improvements into the programme’s modus operandi, and roll out its third phase “in a steady manner” later this year.
Sam also said that the acquisition of talents from outside Macau was a “systematic” project, which, he said, must be carried out with the aim of attracting the good ones who precisely meet the needs for Macau’s development and of ensuring that they will remain in Macau.
Sam pledged that the local government will improve its talent acquisition system with the aim of providing higher-quality support for talents from outside Macau to live, work, and pursue career development here.
Meanwhile, speaking to reporters after the meeting, Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Director Kong Chi Meng, who is also the committee’s secretary-general, said that the about 750 talents from outside Macau in the programme’s first two phases comprise about 20 high-end talents, about 120 outstanding talents, and about 600 high-level professionals, “evenly distributed” for the city’s four emerging industries listed by the government’s appropriate economic diversification plan.
Kong underlined that the about 750 talents come from the mainland, Hong Kong, and various foreign countries.
Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai addresses the Talents Development Committee’s first 2025 plenary meeting at Government Headquarters yesterday. – Photo: GCS
