Opening speech by USLW at kick-off ceremony of Building a Multicultural Workplace Job Fair (English only)

     Following is the opening speech by the Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Ho Kai-ming, at the kick-off ceremony of the Building a Multicultural Workplace Job Fair held by the Labour Department this morning (November 24):

Vincent (Chairperson of DAB (Democratic Alliance for the Betterment and Progress of Hong Kong) Ethnic Minorities Committee, Legislative Council Member Mr Vincent Cheng), EQ (Legislative Council Member Ms Elizabeth Quat), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

     Good morning. It is my great pleasure to speak at the opening ceremony of this job fair. I must first express my thanks to the DAB Ethnic Minorities Service Centre for co-organising this meaningful job fair under the theme of "Building a Multicultural Workplace". I would also like to thank all participating organisations for providing job vacancies suitable for ethnic minority job seekers with a view to building an inclusive workplace.

     Hong Kong is a free and pluralistic society, and talent is the essential impetus for Hong Kong's continuous development. Apart from trawling for quality talents from around the world, the Government will continue to actively nurture and retain local talents.

     According to the figures of the Census and Statistics Department, the ethnic minority population in Hong Kong continued to expand rapidly in the past five years between 2016 and 2021. The share of ethnic minorities in the whole population rose from 3.8 per cent in 2016 to 4.3 per cent in 2021. There were over 300 000 people from ethnic minorities in Hong Kong, excluding foreign domestic helpers, in 2021. Our local ethnic minority population definitely has a role to play in contributing to a better future of Hong Kong.

     The Government has been committed to providing comprehensive support for ethnic minorities to facilitate their employment and integration into the community. Today's event is one of the many dedicated employment services that the Labour Department has been providing to ethnic minority job seekers.

     To name a few more, the Labour Department implements the Employment Services Ambassador Programme for Ethnic Minorities and has been employing trainees of the Youth Employment and Training Programme to work at our job centres and industry-based recruitment centres. In addition, Employment Assistants are also employed at two selected job centres. The Ambassadors and the Employment Assistants can communicate in ethnic minority languages and will help ethnic minority job seekers make use of various job search facilities and services of the Labour Department. The Employment Assistants will further partner with experienced employment officers to provide personalised employment services for ethnic minorities and help reach out to the ethnic minority communities to encourage them to make use of the employment services of the Labour Department.

     At the same time, the Labour Department has commissioned two non-governmental organisations to launch the Racial Diversity Employment Programme since 2020 to provide one-stop employment services for ethnic minority job seekers in a case management approach.

     As the ethnic minority population grows, many of them call Hong Kong their only home. It is important that they are provided equal employment opportunities to contribute to society. The Government has been committed to building a caring and inclusive city. Our Chief Executive, in his Policy Address, has announced that the Government will further enhance the support for ethnic minorities, and the Labour Department will recruit more ethnic minorities for appointment as Employment Assistants and General Assistants. We will continue making proactive efforts to provide the employment support services for ethnic minorities. I sincerely invite you all to join us to support the building of a multicultural workplace and promote the employment opportunities of ethnic minorities. May I wish this job fair and all participants every success. Thank you.