A high-ranking official of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR), November 26 said high quality manpower will be essential to Hong Kong's economic development as external conditions are ripe for Hong Kong to take off again.

Addressing a forum "Re-discovering the Hong Kong Advantage in Times of Change" at the University of Hong Kong, Joseph W P Wong, secretary for education and manpower, said Hong Kong is in great need of professionals in developing tourism and information technology, which the government pledged to boost.

"We have, on the whole, sufficient manpower to support the development of the industry, but training, especially those on service and language, has to be strengthened," he noted.

As the completion of the Disney Theme Park will benefit many related industries such as hotels, retail and catering, Wong hoped that the quality service culture of Disneyland will bring a positive and far-reaching impact on the development of human resources in Hong Kong.

Referring to the training of information technology personnel, Wong said the government has invested heavily in promoting the application of information technology in primary and secondary schools.

"In the short term, we have an urgent need to train more people to meet different needs," he said. "In the next few years, we hope to organize more training courses, including post-secondary courses at the level of diploma or even degree or above, so as to provide pre-employment and on-the-job training to a large number of people to support the rapid development of the industry."

He emphasized that the development of information technology requires the best talents.

"On the one hand, we will train up a large pool of local talents, and on the other, we will try to attract talents from around the world," he said.

"Indeed, I expect that the most intense international competition in the next five years will be for innovative technology personnel," he added. (Xinhua)