and lecturers at Colleges of
Education
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D. Prince of Wales Fund for Training in New Technologies
£2.769 million
Details of all these proposals and their costs are set out in Annexes A-D.
H
5.
During his visit to Hong Kong in January, the Secretary of State discussed these proposals briefly with the British Council representative and expressed particular interest in support for English language teaching. The Secretary of State had been surprised at the relatively poor standard of English spoken by many of the Chinese he met.
ARGUMENT
Assessment of the proposals
A. Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
6.
A substantial British contribution to the new Hong Kong University of Science and Technology such as the endowment of a Research Centre in a high technology field of commercial significance would make a major impact in Hong Kong. It would be a visible and lasting demonstration of Britain's commitment to the expansion of advanced education in the territory. It would give due recognition to Hong Kong's aspirations to become a centre of technological excellence in the region. A particular obstacle to Hong Kong's economic success in the future is the absence of a centre for applied research (the two existing universities are primarily under-graduate teaching institutions) and for technology transfer (most Hong Kong companies are still family owned businesses operating at a very low technological level). The new university (which will be modelled on MIT) should therefore make a vital contribution to Hong Kong's continued prosperity. The endowment of a Research Centre in a high technology field will help to secure British involvement in what is likely to be one of the leading
SAIAAC(3)
CONFIDENTIAL