Plan aims to help HK youth’s involvement in the Bay Area

The government will introduce a new scheme to provide a more comprehensive platform for local young people to establish businesses in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the city’s No 2 official said on Friday.

The remarks came as Chief Secretary for Administration Matthew Cheung Kin-chung discussed youth development at a press conference two days after the new Policy Address on Wednesday.

Cheung said that while it was up to young people to decide on their careers, the government wanted to provide them with an additional choice: working and running businesses in the Bay Area.

The Policy Address stated that the relevant authorities plan to collaborate with local non-governmental organizations to provide young entrepreneurs from Hong Kong in the Bay Area with startup support and other assistance.

Cheung said the scheme would be like a “database” or “platform” for Hong Kong young entrepreneurs. Some of them may not be knowledgeable about mainland laws and the tax system or have any relationships with established local networks.

Some HK$300 million will be injected into a Youth Development Fund to support the scheme, explained Cheung.

Secretary for Home Affairs Lau Kong-wah said eligible NGOs would be subsidized so they could help provide information and services to young SAR businesspeople keen to operate in the Bay Area.

Other relevant organizations will also be brought together under the scheme to act as partners — including universities and research institutions.

According to the home affairs secretary, the special administrative region government will play the role of a “facilitator” under the scheme. This is in order to strengthen cooperation with mainland authorities and look for suitable “entrepreneurial bases” and initiatives.

The new scheme is expected to be launched next year, Lau revealed. He added that the government is working with the Hong Kong United Youth Association to launch a pilot scheme at the end of the year. The pilot scheme will be selffinancing.

The government established the Youth Development Fund in 2016. Until now, about 190 young entrepreneurs received a subsidy in the first round of applications to help start businesses.