Directly-elected lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I, who chairs the Legislative Assembly’s (AL) 1st Standing Committee, said yesterday that the government would only grant operating subsidies to companies wholly owned by the government and those in which the government holds over 50 percent.
Lei made the remarks during a press briefing after yesterday’s two-and-a-half hour closed-door meeting by the committee which is reviewing a government-initiated bill regulating the operation and supervision of the city’s public enterprises.
Currently, there are six public enterprises receiving operating subsidies, namely Macau Light Rail Transit (LRT), Macau Science Centre, Macao Orchestra Limited, TDM-Teledifusão de Macau, Macau Basic Television Channels Limited, Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre (CPTTM), but Lei said the latter will no longer receive this kind of subsidy under the bill, as it is an administrative public body.
Lei quoted the government as pointing out that there are three factors considered in the government’s allocation of operating subsidies, namely the nature of enterprise’s operations, the enterprise’s annual operating plan and the “reasonableness” of its annual budget; whether similar subsidies have been obtained, and the operating results and financial position of the enterprise in the previous year, in particular its accumulated surplus or deficit.
According to the Public Assets Supervision and Planning Office (GPSAP) website, there are currently 23 publicly-funded companies in Macau. In 16 of the companies the government holds over 50 percent of the equity.
Lawmaker-cum-unionist Ella Lei Cheng I (right), who chairs the legislature’s 1st Standing Committee, talks to reporters after yesterday’s closed-door meeting reviewing the government’s public enterprises bill, as the committee’s secretary, Becky Song Pek Kei, looks on. – Photo: Ginnie Liang
