CIC nurtures talent to showcase HK's craftsmanship at WorldSkills

As the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region promotes reindustrialization and seeks to strengthen its talent pipeline, the city's Construction Industry Council (CIC) is placing skilled craftsmanship at the heart of its strategy.

Nine young competitors from CIC will represent Hong Kong's construction sector at the 48th WorldSkills Competition in Shanghai from Sept 22 to 27, aiming to showcase precision, resilience and cross-boundary collaboration on the global stage.

The biennial competition, dubbed the "Skills Olympics", will bring together more than 1,400 competitors under the age of 22 from over 70 countries and regions, competing across 64 skills. Since 1997, Hong Kong's construction industry has regularly participated in this global event, with the CIC winning a total of seven medals in previous competitions.

In this edition, the CIC's nine competitors will participate in eight trades — Bricklaying, Cabinetmaking, Concrete Construction Work, Painting and Decorating, Joinery, Plumbing and Heating, Wall and Floor Tiling, and Welding, with two competitors in Concrete Construction Work and one in each of the other seven categories.

The CIC has also selected six reserves for the competition and is training 11 students to ensure a sustainable talent pipeline.

For the CIC, the competition is not only an international stage for young craftsmen to showcase their abilities, but also part of its broader efforts to strengthen skills development and support the transformation and upgrade of Hong Kong's construction industry.

"Through this skills competition, we first want the society and young people to understand that acquiring professional skills can offer them a strong career path," said Ir Albert Cheng Ting-ning, executive director of the CIC.

"Second, we hope it helps build a skilled workforce for Hong Kong. Third, on a personal level, I hope it instills a positive outlook on life for our young people. Fourth, we aim to cultivate a cohort of outstanding craftsmen who can raise the overall standards of the construction industry."

Cheng noted that talent cultivation is essential for the high-quality and sustainable development of the industry. The CIC has developed teaching materials about bridges, tunnels and buildings that nearly 500 primary and secondary schools — about half Hong Kong's total — have signed up for, and which many of them have downloaded as teaching aids.

Cheng added that, under a "one examination, multiple certification" approach, skills qualifications obtained in one location can be recognized across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It not only establishes common skills benchmarks, but also elevates the professional skills standards across the three regions. The CIC also organizes visits to the Chinese mainland for Hong Kong's construction professionals to foster industry exchanges.