News

The Fund’s latest achievement in funding innovative ventures was introduced at a ceremony on 19 November. As of October 2017, 83 ventures have been approved for funding through the Fund’s intermediaries. Officiating at the ceremony, the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, commended the contribution of the Task Force and the intermediaries as well as the dedication of the venture owners who had offered diverse measures to address social needs and bring hope to various underprivileged groups, whereas Chairperson of the Task Force, Prof Stephen Cheung, expresses his gratitude to all organisations and individuals for their support. Representatives of a number of ventures were also invited to share their experience in realising their ideas. Read more about the ceremony from the press release and our Facebook Fan Page, while details of the ventures are available here.

The SIE Fund supports innovative ventures of different types and stage to create social impact to address poverty and social exclusion. To bring inspiration to the public and to spark more innovative poverty-alleviating ideas, an interactive exhibition truck - “Social Innovation Flow” – is being launched to tour the city to introduce how these ventures strive to address social needs. A media briefing session was held on 13 November at which the truck was unveiled by Chief Secretary for Administration Mr Matthew Cheung and Chairperson of the Task Force Prof. Stephen Cheung. Attention of the media was drawn to the “Interactive Zone” with three innovative ventures and their products showcased to demonstrate how they would help people in need in diverse ways. Ten short videos produced by youth teams sponsored by the Fund will also be played. Each video will feature an innovative venture funded by the Fund, enhancing public understanding of social innovation through a more impactful means.

“Social Innovation Flow” will be paying visits to over 50 spots in Hong Kong for the next six months starting from 26 November. For more details, please stay tuned to our Facebook Page.

The 2017 Social Enterprise Summit was held from 5th to 10th of November. Being one of the sponsoring organisations and a partner of the event at which overseas speakers gathered and shared their insights, SIE Fund seized the opportunity to invite two of them to speak in two sharing sessions held for members of the Task Force and civil service colleagues. In the first session, Mr Geoff Mulgan (Chief Executive of Nesta, UK) gave an account of the approach of experimenting by pilots and engaging different sectors in formulating and implementing public services. In another session, Mr Colin Downe (Sales and Partnership Director, The WildHearts Group, UK) explained how buying from social ventures enabled organisations to enjoy quality products and services and helped to create social good with the same spending. Both talks were insightful and well-received. Meanwhile, at one of Summit’s session “Keys you should know about Public Funding”, the secretariat was invited to introduce the Fund and other details.