Results of the Matching Grants for the UGC-funded sector announced

The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:

The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (30 July) the overall results of the Matching Grant Scheme. Over the past 16 months, the eight UGC-funded institutions have altogether secured more than $1,300 million of donations and a total sum of $1,000 million under the Matching Grant Scheme has been allocated for matching purposes.

The Chairman of UGC, Dr Alice Lam said, "We are very encouraged to see that the community has responded so enthusiastically to this initiative."

"I would like to thank the Government for making the Matching Grant Scheme possible in the first place, and to thank all the people who have made donations to the institutions. Higher education is so important, but our institutions should not rely solely on the Government to meet the needs of the many areas they are involved in. Therefore, I am very pleased to see the whole community helping - from donations of small amounts by individuals, to more than $10 million by major philanthropists."

Dr Lam added, "All of the institutions have done very well under the scheme. The great success of the Scheme just completed has demonstrated that the introduction of Matching Grant Scheme has not only brought in additional resources to the UGC-funded institutions, but also helped to promote the culture of private donation."

She remarked that this would be beneficial to the long-term development of the higher education sector in Hong Kong.

The Financial Secretary in his 2003-04 Budget Speech in March 2003 proposed to set up a $1,000 million fund to award matching grants to UGC-funded institutions. With the support of the Legislative Council Panel on Education, the Finance Committee approved a $1,000 million financial commitment in June 2003 to award matching grants to the UGC-funded institutions which succeeded in securing private donations for activities within the ambit of UGC recurrent grants.

The Scheme was formally launched in July 2003, and expired on 30 June 2004. The eight UGC-funded institutions have altogether secured more than $1,300 million of donations of which $1,000 million can be matched while the additional amount raised shows the enthusiasm of the community for giving for worthwhile endeavours.

The final results of the Matching Grant Scheme are at the Annex.

Friday, July 30, 2004

Annex

Overall Result of Allocation for
Phases I & II of the Matching Grant Scheme

Institution	Matching Grant Allocation $ million
City University of Hong Kong	45
Hong Kong Baptist University	79
Lingnan University	45
The Chinese University of Hong Kong	228
The Hong Kong Instintute of Education	21
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University	201
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	131
The University of Hong Kong	250
Total:	1,000