$150m raised for fund

THE University of Hong Kong's Foundation of Educational Development and Research, officially launched last week, is well on its way to achieving its goal of raising $500 million for a capital fund.

The chairman of the foundation committee, casino mogul Stanley Ho, said $150 million had been pledged since the fund was established in March and he was hopeful the target would be reached in five years.

About 200 education, business and community leaders, as well as the 11 founding honorary patrons, attended the foundation's official launching ceremony at Government House last week.

Each of the founding patrons made a contribution of $5 million or more.

A university spokesman said the institution needed an extra $30 million to implement about 2,000 projects. But the Government could not allocate extra funds.

The foundation's planned $500 million endowment fund is expected to generate $30 million in interest for the financing of these projects.