We have long known that Hong Kong is facing the challenge of an aging population which is undermining its sustainable development and productivity. This is especially so with the until-recent influx of mainland women who gave birth locally, which further complicated the city's demographics and socio-economic circumstances. When Chief Secretary Carrie Lam was tasked with spearheading the Steering Committee on Population Policy, the public had high hopes. After all, it was the third such exercise since the handover. But sadly, the "Thoughts for Hong Kong" consultative paper released by the committee lacks specific suggestions, and fails to provide a clear and long-term vision to shape our future.

Yes, it is true that the recommendations contained in the consultative paper seek to improve the quality as well as the size of the city's working population. By 2041, about one-third of the city's population will be elderly, which means two adults will have to support one elderly person. The document contains five proposals to tackle the challenges: enhancing the quantity and the efficiency of the city's workforce, recruiting overseas talent and mainland labor, providing incentives to boost fertility rates and building an age-friendly environment by developing a "silver hair market". According to the paper, there will also be no change in the purpose of the One-Way Permit scheme designed primarily for family reunion while about 200,000 children born to non-local parents in the city will not be seen as a solution to the demographic impasse.

The problem is, some suggestions are but old wine in a new bottle. The major strategies just point at a direction, however right, without telling us how the journey can be accomplished. The document just tosses about some vague and broad options without really revealing which of them would be more feasible. For example, the document lists an option of subsidizing infertile couples choosing to employ assisted reproductive technology (ART) so as to boost the current birth rate that stood at 1.3 children per woman in 2012. But our healthcare chief Ko Wing-man has nixed this proposal, saying public hospitals needed to give priority to those in most urgent need of care. When even public hospitals are suffering from insufficient resources to cope with urgent cases, how can they afford to substantially extend ART services to infertile couples?

The steering committee has placed a great deal of emphasis on importing foreign labor and overseas talent as the main channel to replenish manpower. Given the urgency to cope with the projected labor force shrinkage from 58.8 percent in 2012 to 49.5 percent in 2041, the proposed measures point at the right way. Importing low-skill workers is undeniably the quickest and most effective way to resolve the existing labor shortage at some industries, especially the so-called "3-D" (dirty, difficult and dangerous) sectors, such as construction, elderly care and catering. However, this would only be a short-term measure to cope with the current supply-demand gap when it comes to low-skill workers and technicians. In the long run, the government needs to enhance its vocational training policy to enable school leavers and little-educated people hone their skills.

More importantly, the government should dedicate more effort to attracting overseas talent. The existing talent admission schemes have proved disappointing. As the document points out, Singapore offers a host of incentives such as housing benefits and tax concessions to lure overseas talent. In addition, it has set up 11 contact offices worldwide for an extensive "point-to-point" manpower network to reach out to target talent and offers study trips and internship programs to overseas students from top universities. In comparison, Hong Kong has been rather passive. The government must remedy this.

Other proposed measures such as encouraging housewives and retirees to re-enter the workforce are praiseworthy. The problem is, such proposals should be buttressed by more family-friendly policies such as childcare support as well as employers' cooperation. It is up to the government to take the most appropriate policy initiatives.

The author is a current affairs commentator.

(HK Edition 11/18/2013 page9)