Internal Communications

Nurturing the entrepreneurship spirit at HKMU

Dear Colleagues,

At the Launch Ceremony of “Hong Kong Metropolitan University”, I mentioned three important goals of the University:

to provide our students with a top-drawer education;
to help students find good jobs, or start their own business, and build meaningful careers; and
to enable our students to become upstanding members of the community.

Our recent “Graduate Employment Surveys” reveal a clear trend that the number of graduates who have started or are planning to start their own business is on the rise. In anticipation of this, the University has taken steps to help equip students with the relevant domain knowledge and skill set required to start and run a successful business.

Courses on how to develop a viable business plan and sustain a successful business have been introduced in our curriculum, and more learning opportunities are being planned for our students.

To further support the entrepreneurship spirit of members of the HKMU community, the University has proposed setting up a “HKMU Startup Fund (HKMUSF)”, with an initial fund of HK$50 million, via its wholly owned subsidiary, HKMU Research Development & Consultancy Limited.

The objectives are to inspire and nurture students, staff and alumni of the University to start their own companies, to turn their creative ideas into commercial products or solutions, and to set them on the path to a successful business.

At its Meeting on 16 March 2023, the University Council approved the proposal. More details will be announced to the HKMU community in due course.

While I am convinced that the establishment of the HKMUSF is an important step in the long-term development of the University, I am fully aware of the concerns expressed by some of our stakeholders. For example,

The size of the HKMUSF is too small to have any real impact;
Students, alumni and staff need to be properly educated/trained before starting their own businesses to stand any chance of success;
The University will lose money, as the monetary return of the HKMUSF, if any, will be minimal; and
There may be reputation risk associated with failed operations, and so on.

I am very pleased to note that the Management Team of the HKMUSF has included several Council Members who are themselves entrepreneurs and have previously invested in successful startups. With their wise counsel and the concerted effort of the HKMU Team, I am confident that the HKMUSF will bring benefits to the University.

“There are Always More Solutions than Problems” – Let the HKMU spirit shine!

Paul LAM Kwan-sing
President