The president of a body that supports the government in attracting top talents to Hong Kong said on Thursday the decision to lift restrictions on the Technology Talent Scheme can draw in more non-local tech researchers.

The Innovation and Technology Commission's decision will now allow tech firms and applicants to file quota and visa applications at the same time, with research area limits removed for greater flexibility.

A special channel has also been set up for tenants at the Hong Kong-Shenzhen Innovation and Technology Park to speed up their cases.

Shang Hailong, the founding president of the Hong Kong Top Talent Services Association told an RTHK programme that the scheme has not been very successful in terms of the number of applicants and approvals so far.

Shang pointed out that there were less than 1,000 approvals in the past 6.5 years.

"Before the upgrade, the scheme had more restrictions, and this time it has been optimised to remove the previous restrictions, such as the application at that time was only eligible for incubatees in the Cyberport or Science and Technology Park, which limited the overall number of applications," Shang said.

"It also required firms to hire three more local talents from Hong Kong, specifically, hiring one full-time employee plus two interns, these requirements were limiting the tech talent development at that time," he added.

Nearly 90 percent of the tech talents who came to Hong Kong through the scheme were from the mainland, Shang pointed out, adding a special channel could make Hong Kong more attractive to these people.

Shang said he also expects the changes could draw in more overseas tech talents to the SAR.

On the same programme, lawmaker William Wong said previous limitations and requirements, such as the the lengthy application process, hindered the scheme's effectiveness.

He said the upgrades will now shorten the process.