As countries worldwide cut higher education budgets, Hong Kong is going in the opposite direction by using financial incentives to boost higher education.

Hong Kong¡¯s leader, Carrie Lam, announced in her?on 25 November at least HK$2.1 billion?(?202 million) in funding for hiring science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) researchers, creating job opportunities for new graduates, and boosting ¡°ArtTech¡± education.

A global STEM professorship scheme will be funded to the tune of HK$2 billion (?193 million) over the next five years.

¡°Some university presidents told me that quite a number of outstanding R&D talents working overseas are interested in coming to work in Asia¡­and that Hong Kong should seize this opportunity to attract more I&T [innovation and technology] talents,¡± she said.

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Jin-Guang Teng, president of Hong Kong Polytechnic University, said he found it ¡°encouraging that the research capabilities of local universities were recognised in the policy address¡± and that the new schemes were ¡°significant to the future development of higher education in Hong Kong¡±.

The new professorships, in particular, would ¡°help encourage overseas talent to come to work in Hong Kong¡±.

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¡°The world has now entered the era of the fourth industrial revolution, and future I&T development will focus on emerging technologies such as life sciences, materials science, data science, artificial intelligence and robotics,¡± he said.

Ms Lam¡¯s speech clearly focused on science and technology, as opposed to the humanities or liberal arts. Much new funding is also contingent on cooperation with mainland China, a relationship the government has?been trying to?foster among students, new graduates and scholars, some of whom are sceptical about crossing the border.

A youth employment scheme will provide 2,000 state-sponsored jobs, but only for recent graduates willing to move to the mainland. Another scheme, which will provide HK$100 million in funding for 200 youth start-ups, is?linked?to ¡°co-working bases¡± on the mainland.

Institutions themselves seem eager to expand across the border, with at least four Hong Kong universities now?building extension campuses?there.

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Ms Lam said that the government would ¡°support and assist various universities in Hong Kong in their plans to provide education services in the GBA¡±, referring to the Greater Bay Area, a state project to create a Silicon Valley-like tech hub that encompasses southern China, Macao and Hong Kong.

An additional?HK$1 billion will be invested in the?fine arts and sport. Of particular interest was ¡°ArtTech¡±, which includes design education and video game development. The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, the only higher education performing arts institution in the city, also got a funding boost.

Roland Chin, president of Hong Kong Baptist University, said that these measures ¡°could create opportunities for students in creative and art related programmes, and for teaching and research staff and alumni to demonstrate their professional strengths¡±.

joyce.lau@timeshighereducation.com?