Should Hong Kong develop private tertiary education?

Private tertiary education is undermined in Hong Kong. While other Asian countries such as Japan and South Korea provide the largest supply of graduates from private higher education since the post World War II era. They are even ahead of the United States. In United Kingdom, a new private university, University of Buckingham was established in the 90s. This is certainly a one big step forward in providing an alternative choice to the students and the public. In China, the Ministry of Education recently approved the establishment of a private higher education institution, Kingold College in Guangdong. This is also the first case in China; not to mention that private higher education institutions in Taiwan also play an important part in the development of higher education. It's truly difficult to conclude whether private institutions are better than public institutions, or vice versa, in terms of quality. The case of Harvard University in the United States versus Cambridge University in United Kingdom is a good example. However, in an open society like Hong Kong, should the invisible hand be given more room for manoeuvre? Believing in the principle of freedom of choice and lifelong learning, should Hong Kong give equal recognition to both social and private investment into tertiary education? Should Hong Kong develop more private tertiary education institutions other than the Open University of Hong Kong? Indeed, should SAR government and entrepreneurs in Hong Kong be so concerned with the future competitiveness of our economy, this is about time to re-examine this issue in a positive and reflective manner. As such, this paper attempts to study the feasibility of developing private tertiary education in Hong Kong in the 21 st century.