Survey: HK’s appeal to talents drops
Hong Kong has dropped six places — to 18th in the world — when it comes to competing for new global talents, a new survey has found.
The IMD World Talent Ranking for 2018, compiled by the IMD World Competitiveness Center in Switzerland, revealed that Hong Kong had fallen behind owing to a lack of investment in education.
According to the survey, Hong Kong suffered setbacks in all three key assessment categories. The city dropped from 24th to 31st in the ranking for investment in skilled people and also in their development. In terms of appeal — the extent to which a place attracts talents — the SAR’s ranking slid from 11th to 14th place. The readiness and preparedness of local talents also lagged from 6th to 9th place as a result of Hong Kong’s relatively low investment in education.
The top 10 countries able to attract fresh talents are mainly in Europe. They are led by Switzerland, followed by Denmark and Norway. The survey found that these countries all invest greatly in education and quality of life.
In Asia, Singapore ranks highest, the world’s No 13. Hong Kong ranks as Asia’s No 2, followed by Israel, Malaysia and Qatar.
Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor said she was not discouraged by the latest findings. She said that there are numerous factors involved in international rankings.
But she admitted it could provide an incentive for the government to do better.
“It (the conclusions) might capture the situation a year ago, so it does not reflect the extensive investment we have made in education in this term of the government,” Lam said before an Executive Council meeting.
The CE said spending on education is the best investment the government can make — as it nurtures talents to meet the needs of the economy. “So, we will continue to invest in education,” she stressed.
The report sparked concern in the education sector. Wong Kwan-yu, president of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, said it was a warning to Hong Kong to speed up the process of developing its talent pool. “There’s a lack of science and technology talents in Hong Kong as the education system touches too little on science,” Wong said.
The government has made improvements by introducing STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education. However, more should be done to encourage students to be interested in science and technology. This will prepare them for the development of an international innovation and technology hub in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Bay Area, said Wong.
Education Convergence Chairman Ho Hon-kuen agreed. He said the government’s recent investment in science and technology was a good start when it came to nurturing local talents.
But Ho said investment in education has to be consistent as it is a long-term issue. Hong Kong has to be patient and allow more time for this to pay off, he advised.