Youth Development Fund

To further support youth entrepreneurship and facilitate young people to grasp the opportunities brought about by the development of the Greater Bay Area (GBA), the Youth Development Commission rolled out two new funding schemes under the Youth Development Fund (“YDF”) in 2019. Among them, the “Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” through collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Hong Kong, has provided start-up assistance and incubation services that befit the needs of young people who are about to start their businesses in Hong Kong and Mainland GBA cities, including helping them settle in entrepreneurial bases and further helping them meet their initial capital needs. The “Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area” has subsidised eligible NGOs in Hong Kong to organise short-term experiential programmes at innovation and entrepreneurial bases in Mainland GBA cities, with a view to enriching Hong Kong young people's understanding of the entrepreneurial bases therein, as well as the relevant policies and supporting measures on innovation and entrepreneurship in the Mainland. This would in turn assist the young people to consider settling in the relevant entrepreneurial bases and starting businesses therein in the future.

The Chief Executive announced in the 2023 Policy Address that the Government will launch the new round of Entrepreneurship Scheme and “Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases”. Among them, the new round of the “Entrepreneurship Scheme” aims at providing capital subsidy and support services to more Hong Kong youth interested in starting their businesses locally and in Mainland cities of the GBA. Besides, the scope of “Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases" will be expanded from the GBA to various Mainland provinces and municipalities so as to encourage young people to explore entrepreneurial opportunities in the enormous Mainland market.