By Natascha Elbech
At the nexus of Western economic prosperity and Chinese cultural influence lies China’s special administrative region of Hong Kong, a bustling and densely populated global city on the rise. The former British protectorate is now home to over 7 million people, and its iconic skyline boasts its transition into Southeast Asia’s innovative and financial hub. In the last several decades, Hong Kong has undergone transformational economic development with the expansion of industrial, financial and technological sectors, the cultivation of a free market economy, and autonomy from mainland China under the “one country, two systems” doctrine.
Globalization may have opened up social, political and economic ties between the Asia-Pacific and the West, however, this economic prosperity has been poorly translated to Hong Kong’s locals, as rapid globalization has subsequently produced uneven development and wide margins of wealth disparities. One of the biggest problems that confronts the city is the unfortunate combination of population density and lack of space, which has forced extensive vertical expansion throughout Hong Kong Island and its mainland district of Kowloon. With quite literally no room to grow, Hong Kong has begun to shift focus on improving already existing public infrastructure and place greater value on the social entrepreneurial work.
With the social and economic issues that arose from uneven conditions of globalization, it is apparent that Hong Kong has unmet needs and an immense potential to generate social impact and capital. The government has greatly contributed to a flourishing social enterprise scene with its Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fund that provides financial and municipal resources in support of innovative business ventures. Since 2012, the SIE Fund has established a network of government agencies, non-profits, NGOs, investors and entrepreneurs, and has allocated 500 million HKD (around 64 million USD) to provide long-term funding for projects in support of poverty reduction and social inclusion within local communities. The SIE Fund currently supports 99 “Innovative Programs” that address an array of acute social issues in Hong Kong, including job training, access to adequate healthcare, employment for women, food assistance, housing shortages, and environmental degradation and pollution.
An example of an ongoing SIE Fund project is MicroForests, a social enterprise based in Shek Kip Mei dedicated towards creating job training and employment opportunities for marginalized women and promoting sustainable development. MicroForests sells floral arrangements and terrariums as gifts or home décor, and works to provide women who are unable to enter the workforce with transferable skills and job experience through their one-year training program and additional support services. The training program focuses on skills and business training and the importance of product design and creativity to encourage women who graduate to start their own businesses. Since the introduction of their training program in 2014, MicroForests has transformed the lives of 40 women and has expanded to corporate partnerships and corporate social responsibility initiatives with companies like Facebook, Coca Cola, and Apple.
As Hong Kong continues to develop, it becomes more apparent that investment in infrastructural development, access to social services, and the creation of economic opportunities for the working class is crucial to holistic economic prosperity. The Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Fund reported in January 2018 that it hopes to integrate 13 additional social enterprises into its funding scheme this year, and is now providing subsidies for social entrepreneurs to lease offices in designed co-working spaces to foster cross-sector collaboration in the field. This increased government support of social entrepreneurship and inclusive business practices is a good sign for the future of social innovation and poverty alleviation in Hong Kong.
