POPULATION AND IMMIGRATION
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In the meantime, removal actions against illegal immigrants and overstayers continued to be taken in accordance with the law.
Entry for Employment
Hong Kong maintains an open and liberal policy towards entry for employment. Foreigners who possess special skills, knowledge or experience of value to and not readily available in Hong Kong, or who are in a position to make substantial contributions to its economy are welcome to come to work. These people may bring along spouses and children under 21 years of age to Hong Kong and, after seven years of residence, may apply to become permanent Hong Kong residents. During the year, 18 740 professionals and persons with technical, administrative or managerial skills from more than 88 countries were admitted for employment.
Admission of Talents Scheme
The Admission of Talents Scheme was introduced on December 17, 1999. It operated on a quota-free and non-sector specific basis with the objective of admitting talented persons from all over the world, those from the Mainland in particular, to come to Hong Kong for employment. The scheme was targeted at talented persons with expertise and skills not readily available in and of value to Hong Kong. Their admission would enhance the competitiveness of the economy as a manufacturing and services centre, particularly in technology-based, knowledge-intensive and high- valued added activities.
Talented persons admitted could bring their dependants. They and their dependants would be eligible for right of abode after having resided in Hong Kong for seven years. Since the inception of the scheme, a total of 417 applications were received. Of them, 101 were approved, 195 rejected, and 73 withdrawn. The remaining 48 were under processing. Most of the successful applicants worked in the information technology/communication/multimedia technology sectors. The Government continued to promote the scheme during the year. Some newly established or small and medium-size firms found it difficult to source and identify the talented persons they required. The Labour Department plans to make use of its existing Employment Services web site to serve as a forum for employers to display job vacancies, so that interested talented persons could contact them directly. The web site will be hyper- linked to the Immigration Department's home page for easy access. With the further development of the local information technology industries and the first-phase openings of the Cyberport and the Science Park, the demand for talent was expected to increase gradually.
Review of Immigration Policies on Entry of Professionals
Under the existing immigration policy, Mainland professionals who fall short of the requirements of the Talents Scheme are generally not allowed to come to Hong Kong to work. However, professionals and talented persons played different but complementary roles to enhance the economic development of Hong Kong. Talented persons focused more on innovation and research whereas professionals helped to attend to firms' immediate needs. There was a clear shortage of local professionals in certain sectors of the economy, the information technology sector in particular. While education and retraining were required to redress these shortages, there was also a