Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups welcomes Alibaba entrepreneur fund

Alibaba's HK$1 billion fund to help young Hongkongers start their own businesses shows the private sector is becoming increasingly involved in supporting entrepreneurs, a youth career development specialist says.

Such schemes can enable three-way cooperation between the government, the business sector and non-governmental organisations, said Gary Tang Leung-shun, supervisor of the Federation of Youth Groups.

Jack Ma Yun , co-founder and executive chairman of the Alibaba Group, announced the fund on Sunday, a day before giving a talk to some 6,900 people in the city. The talk was organised by Our Hong Kong Foundation, a think tank set up by former chief executive Tung Chee-hwa and to which Ma is an adviser.

"Although some people question whether Ma sincerely wants to help young people or if he's just making another investment, I think the fund can offer young people an opportunity to start e-commerce businesses," Tang said. "This is a creative idea."

Tang said businesses, in realising their social responsibilities, used to focus on donating money to relieve poverty. But since the government put more emphasis on young people's upward mobility and set aside funds for them to start companies, the private sector has begun to change focus.

He said this would lead to a new model for cooperation, in which the government would mark out the path, the business sector would contribute financially and NGOs would put the money to good use.