Press Release

HKBU’s response to the 2025-26 Budget

Wednesday, 26 Feburary 2025

The following is a response made by Professor Alex Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), after the release of the 2025-26 Budget today (26 February):

Regarding the University Grants Committee’s funding arrangements, Professor Alex Wai, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKBU, said HKBU understands that the Government has to control its expenditure in a prudent manner given the challenges facing Hong Kong’s current economic environment and public finance situation, and acknowledges the Government’s measures. As a publicly-funded university, HKBU pledges to join hands with the public, enhance efficiency of its resource utilisation, continue with its endeavours in education and research, and contribute to the sustainable development of the Hong Kong society.

Professor Wai pointed out that HKBU fully supports the Government’s policies and measures in support of the long-term development of Hong Kong’s medical system. They include setting aside resources to support universities in the development of the new medical school on a matching basis, increasing the number of medical training places to 650 in the 2025-26 academic year, putting forward the timetable for establishing the Hong Kong Centre for Medical Products Regulation and the roadmap towards the adoption of “primary evaluation”, and spearheading the GBA Clinical Trial Collaboration Platform jointly established by Hong Kong and Shenzhen. HKBU is now preparing its proposal for establishing a new medical school. The University hopes to integrate Greater Bay Area (GBA) health horizons through innovative education, transdisciplinary research, and fostering cohesiveness in Chinese and Western medical practices, and looks forward to contributing to the future of medical education and healthcare in Hong Kong, the GBA, and beyond. It will also establish a frontier translational medical research institute poised to fuel future medical innovation and technology translation.

In addition, HKBU welcomes the various measures proposed in the Budget for the development of Innovation and Technology (I&T). The Budget sets aside HK$1 billion for the establishment of the Hong Kong AI Research and Development Institute. Together with other initiatives on fostering the development of the AI industry, this can help strengthen talent training and industry development in AI in Hong Kong, seizing the enormous opportunities brought about by the rapid development of AI.

Professor Wai said that HKBU supports the HK$10 billion I&T Industry-Oriented Fund to channel market capital to invest in specified emerging and future industries of strategic importance, the preparation for the launch of the I&T Accelerator Pilot Scheme with a funding allocation of HK$180 million, and the establishment of the third InnoHK research cluster focusing on advanced manufacturing, materials, energy and sustainable development, all of which will incentivise collaboration among industry, academic and research sectors in I&T research and development and translational research. HKBU is dedicated to collaborating with its partners to promote the translation of innovative technologies, and will actively explore and participate in relevant programmes to bring benefits to society.

HKBU also welcomes the Government’s proposed measures to support the education industry, including launching a new round of the Research Matching Grant Scheme totalling HK$1.5 billion, hosting international education conferences and exhibitions, stepping up the promotion of the “Study in Hong Kong” brand, and increasing the quota of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme to 400 places per year. Professor Wai said that Hong Kong’s higher education sector has always maintained a unique advantage in attracting talent and connecting China with the West. Many universities are highly internationalised and supported by the Mainland’s extensive talent pool and teaching and research resources. They possess the necessary conditions to attract outstanding overseas students to study and develop their careers in Hong Kong. HKBU hopes that the Government will continue to invest resources in the future to assist higher education institutions in strengthening their teaching capabilities, as well as their teaching and research facilities to support the development of the “Study in Hong Kong” brand.