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Education
and provides young people with internship opportunities on the Mainland and exchange. opportunities on the Mainland and overseas.
The commission invites senior government officials, representatives from advisory bodies and renowned speakers to attend Youth Exchange Sessions so they can communicate directly with young people. The Youth Summit is held every two years as a platform for principal officials to exchange views with young participants.
At the government's invitation, the commission conducted a public engagement exercise on the future direction of youth development policy from May to October. Findings and recommendations of the exercise will form the basis of the work of the future Youth Development Commission, to be established in the first half of 2018.
In 2017, the commission also approved sponsorship under a Large-scale Youth Programme Funding Scheme for 10 youth programmes run by qualified organisations.
It sponsored another 282 exchange tours run by community organisations to enhance young people's understanding of the Mainland, strengthen their sense of national identity and foster exchanges with Mainland people; and 117 internship projects run by community organisations to foster understanding of the Mainland employment market, work culture and development opportunities. As part of the anniversary celebrations, the commission arranged for young people to visit Australia, Austria, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, South Korea and the US under a youth ambassador programme to broaden their outlook and world perspective. Young people from Australia, Ireland, Singapore and the US were hosted on reciprocal visits to Hong Kong.
During the year, the Youth Development Fund set up by the bureau and the commission. provided matching grants to nine NGOs to carry out youth entrepreneurship projects, and to one NGO to hold innovative youth development activities. The NGOs are required to provide young entrepreneurs with financial help, mentorship and pre-entrepreneurship training, including matching them up with mentors with entrepreneurial knowledge and business experience, to develop their business resources and networks.
The commission works with the 18 District Youth Programme Committees to run cultural, arts, sports and general development activities for six- to 29-year-olds. Citywide projects include the Outstanding Youth Commendation Scheme and Outstanding Youth Activity Commendation Scheme. The Home Affairs Department coordinates district-level youth activities. Over 3,300 activities were organised in the summer with government funding and sponsorship from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.
Space Sharing Scheme for Youth
This new scheme is implemented through a community-business-government tripartite partnership to provide a platform for owners of revitalised industrial and commercial buildings. to contribute floor areas for the operation of co-working space or studios, to support start-ups of emerging industries and young people who are setting up their own businesses, and to support arts and cultural development. Participating owners rent out space to suitable NGOs at no more than one-third of the market rental or operate such space themselves. The operators
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