Golden age for business start-ups
11 February 2018
Young people are the most energetic and creative generation in our society and they possess the greatest potential to drive the community forward. I care about young people’s development. My duty visits, be it to Beijing, Qianhai and Nanshan in Shenzhen, Macao or local districts in Hong Kong, have specially included meetings with young entrepreneurs and businesses involved in innovation. There I met a number of young people whose innovative ideas and fighting spirit have led them to join an emerging legion of entrepreneurs.
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Last week, I visited the Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation Entrepreneurship Base in Nanshan District of Shenzhen. Lying next to our city just across a river, Shenzhen has naturally become the focal point for young business starters from Hong Kong.
Established in 2013, the entrepreneurship base in Nanshan provides well-equipped business accommodation and infrastructure as well as professional consultation services for young entrepreneurs from Shenzhen and Hong Kong to pursue their aspirations. The base has incubated some 30 enterprises so far, effectively promoting the technical and talent exchange, and the innovation and technology co-operation between the two cities. I was very pleased to meet the Hong Kong teams there, including many first-time business starters. I encouraged them to work harder, which would certainly yield them fruitful results.
Back in December last year, I had a tour around the E Hub in Qianhai District, or the “Qianhai Shenzhen-Hong Kong Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub” in full, during my trip to Shenzhen to learn more about the premier start-up platform and the range of support services provided for Hong Kong young people. In the E Hub, I visited the Young Professionals Alliance Space and talked with Hong Kong young entrepreneurs working there about their business operations.
Locally, I visited the Trial and Error Lab Hong Kong in the Breakthrough Cultural Space and met with its young participants last month. This is a project organised for young people by Breakthrough Inc. and a group of advocates of youth development, including Dr CHOI Yuen-wan, Philemon. By providing a non-profit-making co-working space complemented with workshops and various experimental activities, it helps young people explore and realise their potential in career and entrepreneurial pursuits.
To meet young people’s keen demand for more space to start their own businesses or to engage in innovation and technology or creative work, the Chief Executive’s 2017 Policy Address proposed implementing a Space Sharing Scheme for Youth (the Scheme) through a Community-Business-Government tripartite partnership. The Scheme is a platform for owners of revitalised industrial buildings and commercial premises to contribute floor areas for the operation of co-working spaces or studios. Participating owners will rent out floor areas to suitable non-governmental organisations at a rent no more than one-third of the market rental for operating the co-working spaces or studios under the Scheme. Alternatively, they may operate such spaces directly on their own. The operators will provide a wide range of leasing options and supporting services for start-ups, young entrepreneurs and artists at a concessionary rent no higher than half of the market rental.
The first phase of the Scheme features a list of ten sites that offer about 90 000 square feet of shared space in total. The Mustard Seed Co-working Space owned and operated by the Emperor Group is one example. It was among the first to recruit young entrepreneurs as tenants in January this year. So far, 12 young people have already moved in at a rent of 50% of the market rental. They have an average age of no more than 35, and many engage in design, application development and e-commerce. Mustard Seed is still recruiting young tenants and is expected to accommodate up to 60 young people at one time.
Cyberport has been running Smart-Space, one of the largest innovation and technology co-working spaces in Hong Kong, on its home ground since 2009. Now under the Scheme, it has partnered with HKR International Limited to set up its first off-site Smart-Space co-working space in Tsuen Wan. Apart from providing state-of-the-art facilities, Smart-Space also offers to digital start-ups a series of complementary services and activities, such as pitching sessions and business clinics, to foster a creativity-boosting and start-up-friendly working environment. Recruitment of young tenants will open soon. This co-working space is expected to accommodate up to 230 young people at one time.
Po Leung Kuk and Hip Shing Hong (Holdings) Company Limited have also joined hands to participate in the Scheme. They have created a co-working space with an inspiring and innovative ambience in Genesis, Wong Chuk Hang for aspiring young entrepreneurs in the fields of creative industry, culture and arts, and multi-media to conduct business, network within the community and explore partnership opportunities with fellow entrepreneurs. Fitting-out works for the premises are underway in preparation for the official opening at the end of March. This co-working space is expected to accommodate up to 60 young people at one time.
Seven more co-working spaces are offered in the first phase of the Scheme. Their owners and operators are pressing ahead with the final operational details and, for some premises, with the renovation works. Recruitment of young tenants is expected to start in the first half of 2018.
This is the golden age for start-ups. We provide diverse choices and comprehensive support for business starters. While it is never risk-free, the first step to make a business happen is to dare and try. Don’t give up even in the face of failure. Learn from it and keep going. Success will come with persistence. I encourage aspiring young entrepreneurs to go for it. Be creative, and put your bold and unique ideas into work. It will be an expedition to open up new horizons for your future and that of Hong Kong.
