Ng Hong Kei, deputy convener of the Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council, said yesterday that the number of applications for the government’s SME (small- and medium-sized enterprises) Aid Scheme reached over 8,000 between January 2020 and March 2022, a total of 6,381 of which were approved, amounting to 2.25 billion patacas in loans.
Ng revealed the data during a press briefing at the Seac Pai Van Community Complex in Coloane after the council’s closed-door meeting with Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) officials.
According to the DSEDT website, in May 2003 the government launched the SME Aid Scheme in response to the difficult economic situation at that time. The scheme provides interest-free financial assistance to ease the difficulties of the city’s SMEs, as well as to help SMEs improve their financial conditions and enhance their operating capabilities. The maximum amount of aid per SME is 600,000 patacas. The maximum period for repayment of the loans is 8 years.
According to Ng, between January 2020 and March 2022 there were 1,576 applications for the government’s “temporary relaxation of application requirements for the SMEs support measures” in which 753 cases were in Taipa and Coloane, 545 of which were approved, totalling 212 million patacas. Ng said industries that benefited from the measures include retail, construction and other projects, as well as the hotel industry. The retail sector was the main beneficiary as it accounted for 27.4 percent of the total, Ng added.
Ng noted that the bureau launched an interest subsidy scheme for SMEs in March 2020. Applicants for the programme can ask for a 40 percent interest-free loan of up to two million patacas with a payback period of three years, in which 4,851 applications were approved out of 5,063 applicants, amounting to over 6 billion patacas. Ng said that with the impact of COVID-19, the bureau allowed 7,309 SMEs to adjust their payback period twice.
Ng said that according to DSEDT officials, the bureau has launched a new measure called “Business Subsidy Scheme for Encouraging Enterprise Upgrading and Development”, adding that with this measure, the government will subsidise all registered local enterprises’ bank loan interest payments with a four-year payback period.
Fellow council member Choi Seng Hon said that when civic leaders raised their concerns about the situation of applicants that closed their business and those who are unable to pay back their loans, the DSEDT officials replied that these kinds of cases do not usually occur, and that the bureau will extend the payback period to 90 days for those who are not able to pay the loans back within 30 days.
Food delivery industry faces growing pains
Meanwhile, council member Wong Leong Kuan raised concern about the security of food delivery drivers. She said that as the number of unemployed people in Macau has increased, food delivery has become one of the most popular industries, which has raised competition among food delivery drivers. Besides, as the food delivery industry focusses on speedy customer services, many of the drivers have to cope with a tight schedule to complete their orders. Following the recent fatal traffic accident involving a food delivery motorbike rider, she urged the government to regulate the food delivery platforms. Wong also urged the food delivery industry to raise its drivers’ awareness of traffic conditions and regulations, as well as to take reference from the mainland, heed local employment rules and raise the time limit for deliveries to be made, so as to set up a safety net for the drivers.
Ng Hong Kei, deputy convener of the Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council (left), and Choi Seng Hon, member of the Taipa and Coloane Community Service Consultative Council, pose during yesterdays’ press briefing after the government-appointed council’s closed-door meeting with Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSPA) officials at the Seac Pai Van Community Complex in Coloane. Photo: Yuki Lei
