Tung Chee-hwa, founder of Our Hong Kong Foundation, delivers a speech at a luncheon held by the think tank at Marriott Hotel in Admiralty, Hong Kong, July 31, 2019. (CALVIN NG / CHINA DAILY)

HONG KONG - A Hong Kong-based think tank that engages in public policy studies has moved closer to the top of a world’s leading think tank index.

Our Hong Kong Foundation (OHKF), founded five years ago by Hong Kong’s first chief executive, Tung Chee-hwa, rose 19 spots to take 112th place in the latest report of a United States research program that ranks the most influential global think tanks in contemporary times.

A research report by Our Hong Kong Foundation on Hong Kong’s health system was named in the index as “Best Policy Study/Report Produced by a Think Tank”

An OHKF research report that focused on Hong Kong’s health system was named in the index as “Best Policy Study/Report Produced by a Think Tank”.

READ MORE: Our Hong Kong Foundation makes 'top think tanks' list

The “2019 Global Go To Think Tank Index Report” was released by a University of Pennsylvania program that has conducted research on the role that policy institutions have played in governments and civil societies around the world for the past 29 years.

This year, work yielded by 8,248 think tanks around the world was reviewed by about 68,200 journalists, policymakers, public and private donors, and specialists. They ranked the worldwide think tanks on the quality, independence, and impact of the research and analyses produced, and in particular how the studies have affected policymakers.

OHKF also ranked 40th in the regional ranking, which includes think tanks in China, India, Japan, and South Korea. The other three think tanks that focus on Hong Kong — Civic Exchange, Hong Kong Policy Research Institute, and Hong Kong Centre for Economic Research - were ranked 62nd, 81st, and 89th on the regional list.

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OHKF Executive Director Eva Cheng Li Kam-fu said in a statement that the think tank’s rise in the international ranking reflected the international community’s and academia’s recognition of OHKF’s research work.

The think tanks should play a key role in 2020, as both the macroeconomy and Hong Kong society will face rapid changes, Cheng said.