The former convenor of the Executive Council, Bernard Chan, on Thursday called on the government to do more to attract talent, saying the city is currently stuck in a “bottleneck” as a result of the 2019 social unrest and Covid pandemic.

Speaking at a forum organised by the Our Hong Kong Foundation, Chan said the government has done the right thing by announcing that Hong Kong is in a quest for high-skilled workers.

"Whether [the relevant policies] are attractive... I don't know. But the fact that we are sending one message to the world – that we need good people to come – that already is a change, because we never did that in the past," he said.

Chan, who’s also the think-tank's executive vice-chairman, said the government’s new measures aimed at facilitating talent to come to Hong Kong will make the relocation process easier, as people used to face a lot of bureaucratic hurdles when they tried to move here.

The delegate to the National People's Congress added that the government can do even more by, for example, attracting high-calibre workers from the Greater Bay Area, nothing an over-supply of graduates on the mainland.

Chan said Hong Kong remains attractive with numerous advantages and opportunities, and the community as a whole should help promote the SAR to the outside world.