HONG KONG: Forty-one people have set up business in the city under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme since its launch June of 2006, the Immigration Department said Friday. Collectively they have injected around HK$100 million into Hong Kong.

The immigrant scheme aims to attract highly skilled and talented people from the mainland and abroad to settle in Hong Kong.

Helen Chan Wing-mui, assistant director of Immigration Department, said: "The latest figures show Hong Kong can still attract high quality elites. The success rate is 75 percent for applicants and I think the number is quite positive."

Around 785 successful applicants have settled down in Hong Kong, mostly from the finance, information technology and trading sectors.

Meanwhile, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme, launched in 2003 to facilitate the entry of capital investors, is still attracting applications despite the economic crisis.

More than 800 applications had been approved between October 2008 and March this year, which is significantly higher than the 500 applications approved between October 2007 and March 2008.

Chan said the department would continue to step up promotion of the scheme to attract even more applicants and investments to Hong Kong.

On the other hand, statistics also show that since June 2006, more than 30 entrants under the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme have decided not to extend their stay in Hong Kong after their initial year.

Eddie Kwan of the Immigration Consulting Service believes many of the entrants may have lost their jobs: "Due to the current financial crisis, job opportunities out there are much slimmer. This makes it hard for some entrants to extend their stay, because in order to do so, they need to show they have a secure job or are making significant contributions to the city."

Guan notes that some entrants may feel un-welcome in the city as the Quality Migrant scheme puts them under a one-year trial period.

"If you put people under a trial period, it sends the message that they will be closely monitored and are not in fact truly welcomed," He added.

World-class pianists, Lang Lang and Li Yundi, were among those approved by the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme.

(HK Edition 04/04/2009 page1)