The city's largest labor union announced on Monday that it has prepared workforce training initiatives aligned with the nation’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30), with the goal of building an artificial-intelligence-savvy talent pool.

At a media gathering on Monday, the Hong Kong Federation of Trade Unions (FTU) pledged to help local workers and residents keep pace with national development and stay competitive — particularly as the country reiterated its commitment in its latest Five-Year Plan, which was approved by the National People’s Congress on March 12, to develop new quality productive forces and achieve sci-tech self-reliance.

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FTU Vice-President Ching Ngon-lai stressed the importance of labor training, saying that the federation will roll out a series of dedicated courses related to the 15th Five-Year Plan that will be open to members and the public.

The initiative aims to provide more accessible channels for the public to understand the nation's future development direction, policies and new opportunities for Hong Kong, while increasing residents’ competitiveness with skill upgrading.

She said the expert-led courses will be accessible to people from diverse backgrounds, and the federation will also invite national legislators and national political advisers to give lectures.

Highlighting AI training in particular, Ching said that the FTU has already offered over 100 such sessions to enhance workers' AI literacy. She also promised to seek more resources and opportunities to expand such training.

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Federation President Stanley Ng Chau-pei said that Hong Kong is actively aligning with national development, with platforms such as the Northern Metropolis and the Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Co-operation Zone emerging as new growth drivers in high-tech sectors. His federation is closely monitoring the job opportunities, industry growth and labor development arising from these initiatives.

"In the technology era, we must help our workers become masters, not slaves, of new technology," Ng said, adding that this is an “unshakable responsibility” of the city’s labor unions.

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As the city faces the major trends of industrial upgrading and digital transformation, the union will closely follow up on the upgrading of Employees Retraining Board into "Upskill Hong Kong", which will provide skill-based training courses, as announced in the 2026-27 Budget, Ng said.

He also promised to push for more policies that ensure workers can seize opportunities under new modes of production.

Contact the writer at amberwu@chinadailyhk.com