Trading places: Permanent Secretary for Environment, Transport & Works Lo Yiu-ching (middle, front row) signs the secondment plan in Shenzhen with Shenzhen Construction Bureau Director Zou Guohua (right, front row), and Shenzhen Works Bureau Director General Jiang Jianjun (left, front row).

The Environment, Transport & Works Bureau will second architectural and civil engineering graduates it engages to receive three month's training in Shenzhen in May.

The move aims to train up Hong Kong's professionals in the construction industry to support the integration of the Mainland and Hong Kong.

Permanent Secretary for the Environment, Transport & Works Lo Yiu-ching today signed the secondment plan in Shenzhen with Shenzhen Construction Bureau Director Zou Guohua and Shenzhen Works Bureau Director General Jiang Jianjun.

The secondment training is recognised by the Hong Kong Institute of Architects and the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers as part of their approved training.

The secondment will broaden the graduates' perspectives and enhance their knowledge of the system, standards and regulations related to their professions in the Mainland. 

This will not only improve their competitiveness in their future development in both the Mainland and Hong Kong but also promote the exchange and cooperation in the training of professionals between the two places.   

Graduates to get well-rounded training

The first batch of graduates to be seconded to Shenzhen will include two civil engineering graduates and two architectural graduates. The graduates will receive training in the Shenzhen Construction Bureau and the Shenzhen Works Bureau.

During the secondment, the architectural graduates and civil engineering graduates will also receive a period of training in an architectural design consultant firm and an engineering design institute in Shenzhen.

They will learn procedures for establishing a project, planning, design practices and approval procedures, procedures for works commencement, tendering, contract management, safety and quality supervision as well as procedures for works completion.