​​Following is a question by the Hon Leung Man-kwong and a written reply by the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Miss Alice Mak, in the Legislative Council today (February 25):

Question:
 
     The Chief Executive announced in the 2025 Policy Address that, to broaden the international horizons of Hong Kong young people and cultivate their holistic outlook, the Government will launch the Youth Talent Training Programme and a new media thematic internship programme on the Mainland, strengthen the Youth Financial Education Programme, and launch new mediation workshops to enhance young people's understanding of the mediation industry. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:
 
(1) of the specific details and preparatory progress of the Youth Talent Training Programme and the media thematic internship programme on the Mainland; whether monitoring and evaluation mechanisms have been established for these two programmes to ensure their effectiveness; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that;
 
(2) since the launch of the Youth Financial Education Programme in May 2024, of the specific measures and activities the Government has implemented to enhance young people's financial literacy and assist them in establishing good habits for managing personal finances; of the details of the deepened programme and the implementation timetable; and
 
(3) of the details and preparatory progress of the new mediation workshops launched for young people; whether follow-up support measures have been formulated to assist the continuous development of young people interested in joining mediation-related industries?

Reply:

President,
 
     The reply to the question raised by the Hon Leung Man-kwong is as follows:
 
(1) As announced by the Chief Executive in his 2025 Policy Address, to better equip our young people, broaden their international horizons and cultivate a holistic outlook, the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau (HYAB) would launch the Young Talent Training Programme (YTTP). The programme includes the following specific initiatives: (i) providing more opportunities for young people to participate in the internships of international organisations and attend international conferences, thereby enabling them to widen their international perspectives and develop holistic views; (ii) launching a new media thematic internship programme on the Mainland to provide opportunities for young people studying communication to undertake internships at a major media organisation on the Mainland, thereby helping them broaden their media horizons and deepen their understanding of national development; (iii) deepening the Youth Financial Education Programme (YFEP) launched in 2024 to provide young people with information on the financial sector and financial planning, so as to enhance their understanding of the financial market; and (iv) launching a brand new workshop on mediation to enable young people to acquire basic mediation concepts and knowledge, thereby strengthening their understanding of mediation services as well as the mediation industry.
 
     Among these, the HYAB is currently preparing to launch a new media thematic internship programme on the Mainland under the HYAB Thematic Youth Internship Programmes to the Mainland. The programme will target post-secondary students studying communication-related disciplines and provide them with internship opportunities at a leading media organisation on the Mainland. Through internship, students will be able to gain an in-depth understanding of the media landscape, industry operations and development trends on the Mainland. It aims to cultivate young talent with enhanced understanding of the country's development and a professional media perspective. The programme is expected to be held in July this year for a period of three weeks, offering 16 internship placements in areas such as programme production, creative media and new media application. Details of the programme will be announced in March. 
      
     As always, the HYAB will closely monitor the implementation of the YTTP through, for example, sending representatives to attend activities as observers, collecting feedback from stakeholders by questionnaire, and/or attending debriefings and sharing sessions of participants, in order to monitor the programme's effectiveness.
 
(2) In 2024, the HYAB and the Investor and Financial Education Council (IFEC) jointly launched the pilot YFEP at youth hostels under the Youth Hostel Scheme, providing youth tenants with financial planning and counselling services as well as information on financial management, saving and investment that suits their individual needs, thereby assisting them to develop effective financial management plans.
 
     Since its launch in 2024, the pilot YFEP has offered story-telling sessions on financial management, interactive learning activities and a series of online resources, aiming to help youth tenants customise their own financial plans and goals and establish good habits of managing personal finances and investment.
      
     According to the feedback collected from youth participants, a majority of them agreed that the activities and information provided under the pilot YFEP helped deepen their knowledge of financial management. In view of this, the HYAB has started to enhance the YFEP in 2025 by expanding the programme to cover other newly launched youth hostels and the Youth Link as the first step. Apart from the IFEC, the HYAB has also invited the Hong Kong Monetary Authority and the Mandatory Provident Fund (MPF) Schemes Authority to work together to enhance the YFEP by providing young people with information on the financial sector and financial planning that better suits their needs, thereby supporting their personal development and cultivating more talents for society.
      
     Under the YFEP, 14 story-telling sessions on financial management have been organised, covering topics such as financial planning, investment, credit and risks, MPF management and information on the financial sector, with experts sharing their knowledge and insights about financial management and the financial sector among youth participants. Moreover, 11 issues of digital newsletters have been published to date, providing young people with information on financial management and various personal financial management tools.
 
(3) To proactively consolidate and implement Hong Kong's development of "eight centres" as outlined in the 14th Five-Year Plan to establish Hong Kong as a centre for international legal and dispute resolution services in the Asia-Pacific region, together with the establishment of the headquarters of the International Organization for Mediation in Hong Kong, the HYAB has launched a new series of mediation workshops to enable young people to acquire basic concepts and knowledge of mediation, thereby enhancing their understanding of mediation services and the mediation industry as well as fostering the mediation culture. The HYAB has worked with the Joint Mediation Helpline Office to organise a number of mediation workshops at secondary schools and youth hostels starting from December 2025 to enable young people to learn about mediation services and opportunities brought by "eight centres" for the industry, so as to nurture mediation talents for Hong Kong and the country. As at end-January 2026, around 400 young people have already attended these workshops. The HYAB will review the workshops' content and arrangement in a timely manner taking into account the feedback of participants, with a view to helping young people develop their professional competence and equip themselves early for their future career pursuits.

Ends/Wednesday, February 25, 2026
Issued at HKT 18:45

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