Authorities are going all out to lure talent from all over the world, the labour chief said, adding global uncertainties make Hong Kong an even more attractive place for professionals to develop their careers.

Chris Sun also expressed optimism that many people who arrived in the SAR through various talent schemes in the past few years will stay, and that the government will meet its retention target.

Chief Executive John Lee stressed in his Policy Address last year the importance of retaining talent. He set a target of extending at least 50,000 talent visas annually from 2025 to 2027.

In an interview with RTHK marking the 28th anniversary of the SAR and three years into the current term of government, Sun said while he was confident of achieving that goal, actual figures would have to be provided later.

"Our preliminary estimates suggest that by the end of the second quarter, around 10,000 visas would expire and require renewal," he said, referring to visas approved under the Top Talent Scheme.

"We will provide actual data in the second half of this year."

On a related note, the government is also introducing from the end of this month a new entry pathway for skilled workers from the mainland.

Called the technical professionals stream, it targets people working in specific sectors, and applicants must be 40 or younger. A cap of 10,000 is set for the three-year pilot programme, and 3,000 for each trade.

Sun believes the quota for information technology technicians could be filled up quickly, but it was too early to say if the cap should be raised.

"We should let the scheme run its course first. Of course there is a shortage of technicians in Hong Kong. We expect a manpower shortage of 180,000 by 2028, of those one-third will be skilled technical workers. Existing workers are also getting old, and it is a serious problem," he said.

As for general workers coming through the Enhanced Supplementary Labour Scheme, Sun revealed around 60,000 applications have been approved so far.

About one in six hires were waiters, while another 6,900 applications were seeking junior chefs.

He insisted there are sufficient safeguards to protect local employment, and urged people who believe they have been treated unfairly to come forward, pledging all complaints will be taken seriously.