Talent Will Come Back To HK, Says Christopher Hui

Financial Services Secretary Christopher Hui on Thursday said he is confident that professionals will return to Hong Kong in future, saying recent departures are just a short-term phenomenon prompted by Covid restrictions.

On Wednesday, Chief Executive Carrie Lam said it “might be an indisputable fact” that business talent is leaving the SAR.

On a radio programme, Hui said the people who have left are those who often needed to travel in and out of Hong Kong due to work, and he believes they will come back.

“Should we call it an outflow of talent, or are people just going to other places at the moment for work or business purposes? I think these talents will return, as long as we let people know that here is where opportunities lie,” he said.

“People have left really quickly, but they may come back really quickly too. If we control the epidemic well and promote our selling points through different strategies, I am confident.”

The minister added that the government has listened to views from society and has adjusted its Covid policies, such as lifting flight bans and shortening quarantine periods.

Meanwhile, Hui also brushed off concerns that the resignation of two senior British judges from Hong Kong's top court may harm the city's status as an international finance hub.

The president of the UK Supreme Court, Robert Reed, and judge Patrick Hodge are stepping down as non-permanent judges on the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal, with Reed saying they cannot stay “without appearing to endorse an administration which has departed from values of political freedom and freedom of expression”.

But Hui said it is clear that the rule of law remains intact in the SAR, and that the political motives behind the judges’ move are also clear.