Exclusive | Indonesia can supply nurses to Hong Kong, not just domestic helpers, says top envoy to city
- It has already done so in several other developed economies, says Consul General Yul Edison
Indonesia can provide nurses to help Hong Kong address its medical sector’s manpower shortages, the country’s top diplomat in the city has said as he set out his country’s bid to diversify the talent it can offer beyond domestic helpers.
In an exclusive interview with the Post, Consul General Yul Edison said he also hoped to increase the number of Indonesian students studying at Hong Kong’s top-tier universities in key fields vital to his country’s development.
According to the latest statistics from the Immigration Department, there are around 150,000 Indonesians in Hong Kong working as domestic helpers – a figure Yul said represented about 85 per cent of all Indonesians in the city.
While Hong Kong remained a “main destination” for Indonesian domestic helpers, he said his country could also send more skilled and semi-skilled workers to the city from other sectors, such as healthcare.
“Hong Kong needs nurses, and we have many nurses in Indonesia,” he said.
The city has been suffering from an acute shortage in its public healthcare sector in recent years. According to a projection made last year, the city will be short of 8,700 nurses by 2030, 6,900 by 2035 and 6,000 by 2040.
