Nurture Hong Kong’s start-up scene to compete for global talent, INSEAD dean says
- A vibrant scene will allow promising companies to prosper and attract global talent to the city, INSEAD’s Veloso says
Hong Kong should nurture the potential of start-up companies in the city, a key to attracting and retaining skilled workers amid competition among regional hubs for talent, according to the dean at INSEAD, a French non-profit graduate business school.
A vibrant scene will help mitigate some of the concerns, such as steep living costs, that prevent global talent from choosing the city, according to Francisco Veloso, the dean of INSEAD. More can be done to raise the visibility and reputation of Hong Kong beyond its traditional status as a financial hub, he added.
“For Hong Kong to continue to push to be at the forefront of new entrepreneurial areas is very important,” said Veloso, who visited Hong Kong last week to meet its alumni. “People, and talented people in particular, really want to be where the intellectual and innovative action is.”
INSEAD, which has locations in Fontainebleau in France, Singapore, Abu Dhabi and San Francisco, was ranked second in The Financial Times’ 2024 list of the world’s top MBA schools.
Around three out of four companies in the city have experienced a talent crunch, according to a survey conducted by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce last year. The desire for higher pay and emigration were the top reasons for the squeeze, according to the survey.
While much has been achieved, Hong Kong has continued to trail Asian peers by a wide margin. It ranked 11th among 30 start-up ecosystems in Asia, according to the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2024 published by research firm Startup Genome. Singapore, Beijing and Seoul led the league table.
