The Community Investment & Inclusion Fund (CIIF) held the Social Capital Builder Awards Presentation Ceremony today to encourage the development of social capital.

Six projects were awarded Outstanding Social Capital Project Awards, spanning cross-sectoral participation from the business, education and religious sectors and the Rural Committee.

More than 550 enterprises and organisations were presented the Social Capital Builder Logo Award, representing an increase of more than 60% compared to the 2016 Awards.

Officiating at the ceremony, Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung said the rise of the number of awardees shows that the idea of social capital has gradually penetrated into different levels of society, adding it is increasingly supported and recognised across various sectors, social strata and generations.

He appealed to professions and sectors across society to respond to emerging community needs with innovative and collaborative models.

Before the ceremony, Mr Cheung and Secretary for Labour & Welfare Dr Law Chi-kwong toured the expo on CIFF-funded projects to learn about their operations and beneficiaries.

Dr Law also attended the CIIF Forum "Social Capital as a Solution".

He said the Government has injected $800 million into the fund since its establishment, subsidising 375 programmes with more than 730,000 people directly engaging in them.

The participation of around 93,000 volunteers and 9,200 collaborative partners has built up about 2,100 mutual help networks, significantly promoting reciprocity among various sectors.

Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s 2018 Policy Address announced the Government will, through the CIIF, fund community network building projects, with the aim of regularising the support service for the new estate community to facilitate the integration of residents into the community.