The Social Enterprise Advisory Committee (SEAC), which advises the Government on the formulation of policies and strategies for supporting the sustainable development of social enterprises in Hong Kong, commissioned this consultancy study. The aims are to study the current landscape of the social enterprises (SEs) in Hong Kong and to make innovative and long-term recommendations for the Government, the SE sector, and other stakeholders to support further development of the sector.

The study is grounded on theory and empirical evidence, comprising public opinion poll, survey on SEs, focus group discussions and desktop research (see Chapter 1 of the full report for its methods), that were carried out in the second half of 2013 to the first quarter of 2014. Compared to previous studies, it has put emphasis on the social value and innovativeness of the SEs in addition to their operational efficiency and financial return.