Hong Kong to inject 643 mln USD into research funding for higher education

Hong Kong Chief Executive Donald Tsang proposed Wednesday to inject 5 billion HK dollars (643 million U.S. dollars) into the Research Endowment Fund to promote academic research in tertiary institutions. Delivering the 2011-12 policy address to the Legislative Council, Tsang said 3 billion HK dollars will fund self-financing tertiary institutions on a competitive basis, while the remaining will replace the recurrent provision of 100 million HK dollars to the Research Grants Council to provide stable research funding for related institutions. Tsang said the increase in investment in research is crucial to enhancing Hong Kong's competitiveness in the face of intense global competition. The city's government set up an 18 billion HK dollar Research Endowment Fund in 2009. With the support of the Fund, the government has introduced the Theme-based Research Scheme to finance research projects of strategic importance to the city's long-term development. In addition, Tsang put forward other measures on overall education development, such as expanding multiple study pathways for the cuisine college, the youth college and the construction workers' training center; supporting students with special educational needs; and developing electronic textbooks.