The Housing Authority today announced the launch of the Well Being·Start-Up 2.0 Programme, following the success of the scheme’s initial iteration.
The programme aims to promote youth entrepreneurship, with a view to creating mutual benefits for residents, retail tenants and the community.
Secretary for Housing and Housing Authority Chairman Winnie Ho outlined that the updated scheme has been extended to cover private shopping centres as well as government ones. She said it introduces an “entrepreneurial ladder”, involving “staged rental concessions”.
She added: “Commercial partners can join hands to assist Hong Kong’s young entrepreneurs by providing them with more entrepreneurial opportunities and enabling them to develop their careers. This also injects vitality and innovation into the community and new dynamics into Hong Kong’s retail landscape.”
Including the 12 shops provided by the authority in the first iteration, the extended scheme will involve approximately 50 shops in total.
To support the business development of participating entrepreneurs, the authority will provide three-year staged rentals at discounted rates.
It explained that this will enable participants to allocate funds flexibly for business development, whilst gradually adapting to market rental levels in their operations.
Annual reviews will be conducted to ensure that the programme is helping to foster sustainable enterprises, it added.
