The Hong Kong Scholarship for "Belt & Road" Students (Malaysia) will be launched in the 2017-18 academic year to attract outstanding students to pursue undergraduate studies in Hong Kong.
Secretary for Education Eddie Ng announced the scheme after meeting Malaysian Deputy Minister of Higher Education Mary Yap Kain Ching in Kuala Lumpur today.
The launch of the scheme is a significant milestone since the signing of the memorandum of understanding on education co-operation between the governments of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Malaysia in March 2015, Mr Ng said.
"It can further internationalise and diversify the Hong Kong higher education sector and enrich our pool of human capital with talents with global vision and international networks. At the same time, the scholarship awardees can act as ambassadors to strengthen exchange and people-to-people bonds between Hong Kong and Malaysia," he said.
Supported by donations from the CMA Li Sau Hung Eddy Special Fund, up to 10 scholarships will be offered to Malaysian students enrolled in undergraduate programmes of publicly funded institutions in Hong Kong. Awardees will receive a scholarship of up to $120,000 per year to cover tuition fees. The Chinese Manufacturers' Association of Hong Kong will provide each financially needy awardee with a bursary of $50,000 per year.
Details of the new scholarship scheme are available on the Study in Hong Kong website.
The Education Bureau said non-local students are primarily admitted through over-enrolment beyond the approved student number targets and institutions will process their applications for admission independently of those from local students. Therefore they will not constitute direct competition with local students.
