Professor H K Chang, President of City University of Hong Kong, spoke at length about promoting Hong Kong as a regional hub for education at a forum on 12 April. The forum was organized by the Hong Kong Economic Journal Monthly.

Professor Chang said in his talk that only by promoting Hong Kong as a regional hub could Hong Kong sustain its future development, help to train much-needed professionals and spread Hong Kong's influence around the world.

He added that in addition to providing professionals, Hong Kong, as a regional education hub, should help establish network to spread its influence.“Education is the most efficient way to influence others,” he said. “Hong Kong must follow this direction; there is no other choice.” However, he said people in Hong Kong had yet to appreciate the importance of being such a regional, or international, education hub, and he said the government should implement suitable policies for initiating such a plan.

To an audience that included leading figures from eight institutions of higher education in Hong Kong, Professor Chang emphasized that Hong Kong needed to work with the economic and cultural development of the mainland so that Hong Kong could sustain its own development. “We need to link up with the mainland via different channels, in terms of cultural, social and economic development, and we need to train professionals to fulfill those needs,” he said.

His talk touched upon the importance of internationalization, pointing out that young people in Hong Kong seemed to be becoming more introvert just as mainland China was enjoying prosperous growth. Local students seemed more concerned with personal issues than with other concerns, according to Professor Chang.

Professor Chang said that if Hong Kong developed as a regional education hub, it would help to attract more overseas students. Local students would have more opportunities to mingle with people from different backgrounds, an experience that is likely to foster a broader horizon and instill a more competitive edge. He also said that the network that developed via this exchange and communication was a key to success for every country and city.

The participants at the forum included Professor Ng Ching-fai, President and Vice-Chancellor of Hong Kong Baptist University; Professor Lawrence Lau Juen-yee, Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong; Professor Tsui Lap-chee, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Hong Kong; Professor Edward Chen Kwan-yiu, President of Lingnan University; Professor John Leong Chi-yan, President of the Open University of Hong Kong; Professor Poon Chung-kwong, President of the Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and Professor Roland Chin Tai-hong, Acting President of the University of Science and Technology.