Applications open for Sir Edward Youde Memorial Overseas Fellowships and Scholarships 2027/28
The following is issued on behalf of the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund Council:
The Sir Edward Youde Memorial (SEYM) Fund Council reminded interested applicants today (August 3) that the SEYM Overseas Fellowships and Scholarships and the SEYM Overseas Fellowships and Scholarships for Disabled Students for the 2027/28 academic year have been open for applications since June 22. The closing date is September 4, 2026.
The fellowships and scholarships aim at encouraging outstanding students to pursue further studies in renowned institutions overseas. Awardees should aspire to contribute to Hong Kong and be ready to give back to the community upon graduation.
The fellowships are for overseas studies leading to postgraduate degrees either by research or coursework. The maximum value of a fellowship is HK$300,000 per year, tenable for up to three years for a doctoral degree or two years for a master's degree. The scholarships are for overseas studies leading to undergraduate degrees. The maximum value of a scholarship is HK$280,000 per year, tenable for up to three years.
The applicants will be responsible for fulfilling all application procedures and admission requirements of the academic institutions of their choice.
Information notes for the applications are available on the website of the Student Finance Office of the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/en/resources/forms/form.htm). Applicants should submit the completed form through the GovHK website (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/sfo031/en/). For details, please visit the website of the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund (www.wfsfaa.gov.hk/sfo/seymf/en/whatwedo/index.htm), or call (852) 3752 8711 or (852) 3752 8704.
Shortlisted applicants of the Overseas Fellowships and Scholarships will be invited to attend interviews in Hong Kong. The first round of interviews is scheduled for December 2026 or January 2027. If found suitable, applicants will be invited for a final interview to be held in January or February 2027. For the Overseas Fellowships and Scholarships for Disabled Students, shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend an interview in Hong Kong in January or February 2027.
Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund, Photo source: official website of the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fund
Survey on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises' Credit Conditions for Second Quarter 2026
The following is issued on behalf of the Hong Kong Monetary Authority:
The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) published today (August 3) the results of the Survey on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs)' Credit Conditions for the second quarter of 2026. According to the survey, SMEs' credit conditions remained broadly stable.
Regarding SMEs' perception of banks' credit approval stance relative to six months ago, excluding respondents who answered "no idea/don't know", 78 per cent perceived a "similar" or "easier" credit approval stance in the second quarter of 2026, up from 73per cent in the previous quarter (Chart 1in the Annex). 22per cent perceived a "more difficult" credit approval stance, compared to 27per cent in the previous quarter. The perception of a more difficult credit approval stance may not necessarily reflect actual difficulties faced by SMEs in obtaining bank credit as the perception could be affected by a number of factors, such as media/news reports, business conditions and opinions of relatives and friends.
Among respondents with existing credit lines, 4per cent reported a "tighter" banks' stance, up from 0per cent in the previous quarter (Chart 2in the Annex). In this survey, a tighter stance on existing credit lines denotes a range of possible measures or arrangements, such as reducing unused and used credit lines, raising the interest rate, imposing additional collateral requirements, or shortening loan tenor. Therefore, respondents' indication of banks' stance on existing credit lines may not directly reflect banks' supply of credit to SMEs.
The survey also gauged the results of new credit applications from SMEs. 3per cent of the respondents reported that they had applied for new bank credit during the second quarter of 2026. Among the respondents who had already known their application outcomes, 85per cent reported fully or partially successful applications, down from 91per cent in the previous quarter (Chart 3in the Annex).
Owing to small sample sizes of SMEs with existing credit lines (15per cent of surveyed SMEs) and with new credit applications (3per cent of surveyed SMEs) during the quarter, the results could be prone to large fluctuations, and hence should be interpreted with care.
About Survey on SMEs' Credit Conditions
In light of the importance of SMEs to the Hong Kong economy and concerns about potential funding difficulties facing SMEs over the past few years, the HKMA has appointed the Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) to carry out this survey, starting from the third quarter of 2016. This survey is conducted on a quarterly basis, covering about 2 500 SMEs from different economic sectors each time. The results of this survey can help monitor the development of SMEs' access to bank credit from a demand-side perspective.
The results of this survey should be interpreted with caution. Similar to other opinion surveys, views collected in this survey may be affected by changes in sentiment due to idiosyncratic events that occurred over the survey period, which can make the results prone to fluctuations. Readers are advised to interpret the results together with other economic and financial information. In addition, views collected are limited to the expected direction of inter-quarter changes (e.g. "tighter", "no change" or "easier") without providing information about the magnitude of these changes.
Detailed tables and technical information of this survey are published on the website of the HKPC (smecc.hkpc.org).
Source: AI-found images
