The Youth Development Commission has rolled out two new funding schemes on youth entrepreneurship and experiential programmes in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Chief Secretary Matthew Cheung announced the launch of the two new schemes at a ceremony today.

The Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area aims to subsidise non-governmental organisations in Hong Kong to offer entrepreneurial support and incubation services for local young people.

The funding cap for each service project is $1 million a year, for a maximum of three years.

The scheme also aims to provide youth startups with seed funding through subsidising NGOs and requiring the NGOs to provide matching funds. 

The matching ratio is 3:1. The ceiling of the government subsidy for each NGO applicant is $4.5 million, to be matched with $1.5 million of funding from the NGO.

Each startup may receive a capital subsidy of up to $600,000, comprising $450,000 of government subsidy and $150,000 of matching contribution from the NGO.  

For the Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation & Entrepreneurial Bases in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, it aims to subsidise eligible NGOs to run programmes which can enrich Hong Kong young people's understanding of the bases.

The funding limit for each experiential programme is $700,000.

Eligible NGOs can apply for the two funding schemes by May 30.

Turning to the Space Sharing Scheme for Youth, Mr Cheung said seven properties have started operation, adding five more will be rolled out.