Undergraduate Programmes

The School of Economics and Finance, in conjunction with The Fund for American Studies and Georgetown University in Washington D.C., offer a 3-week academic programme at the University of Hong Kong in summer term each year.

In 2007, students from around the world, including Hong Kong, China Mainland, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Nepal, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States congregated in Hong Kong to participate in the Asia Institute for Political Economy summer academic programme to learn about the principles of free market economics and political concepts. Universities represented from abroad include, inter alia, Cornell University, Indiana University, National University of Singapore, National Taiwan University, Royal University of Phnom Penh, Singapore Management University, Tamkung University, University of Colombo, University of Malaysia, University of Miami, University of Michigan, University of Virginia, Yale University and from the China Mainland - Fudan, Nanjing, Peking, Shanghai Jiaotong, Sun Yat-Sen, Tsinghua and Zhejiang. For three weeks, 65 students lived and studied on campus, and engaged in discussions on global economic and trade issues with one another as well as with regional specialists, industry leaders, legislators and professors from the United States and Hong Kong. Topics ranged from the rule of law and the property rights infrastructure as the underpinnings of a free market system, the local and regional equity markets, to the factors underlying China's economic growth. Well-known and popular speakers included Mr. Bernard Chan, Mr. Ronnie Chan Chi-chung and Ms. Audrey Eu. Extracurricular activities were planned to promote both cross-cultural awareness and exchange.

Since 2003, our School has been sending HKU student representatives to Washington D.C. each summer to participate in the TFAS-sponsored Live, Learn and Intern summer institute at Georgetown University to study comparative economic and political systems, business and government affairs. Living in the United States capital, our students spent 8 weeks enrolled in two 3-unit courses (6 semester hours) at Georgetown University. To top it off, our students gained invaluable work experience as summer interns in one of Washington D.C.'s best academic and internship programmes.

The graduates of the summer institutes at both HKU and Georgetown University have joined a growing network of over 8,000 TFAS alumni and contacts worldwide in the areas of business, industry, government and academia.