Macau Chamber of Commerce (ACM) President Frederico Ma Chi Ngai said yesterday that the ongoing three-month “Macau Consumer Grand Prix” campaign has achieved the expected target, with 22,000 local businesses participating, noting that 190 million patacas in e-vouchers have been redeemed so far, generating 940 million patacas in expenditure.
Ma made the remarks during yesterday’s discussion on the current affairs phone-in programme “Ou Mun Gwong Cheung” hosted by the radio station of Macau’s public broadcaster TDM.
The large-scale consumer sales promotion, which is taking place between September 20 and December 29, aims to boost different districts’ economies and encourage local residents to stay and spend money during the weekend, Ma said.
Meanwhile, the chairman of the Industry and Commerce Federation of the Macau Central and Southern District, Lei Cheok Kuan, said that the promotion campaign has been of great help to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), but the increase in turnover of local district businesses has been a mixed bag, and some of them have failed to meet their expectations.
Lei said he believes that as people’s consumption pattern nowadays has changed, local businesses should think about how to make good use of online platforms for promoting their goods and services, while improving their quality.
Industry and Commerce Association of Macau Northern District (AICZNM) Director General Ma Kin Cheong told the phone-in programme that the campaign has had a positive impact on spending in the community, boosting the businesses of different sectors in the city’s various communities by two to four times by alleviating the impact of residents’ expenditure in the mainland during weekends.
Ma Kin Cheong also said he believes that the event has met its expectations, adding that the participating businesses have also launched more promotions during the event to increase business growth.
However, a Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (commonly known as Kai Fong in Cantonese) representative said that some elderly had told him that they could not participate in the campaign because they did not know how to use e-payment, suggesting that conventional consumption cards should be distributed to senior citizens.
Macau Chamber of Commerce (ACM) President Frederico Ma Chi Ngai (second from right), Industry and Commerce Federation of the Macau Central and Southern District Chairman Lei Cheok Kuan (left), Industry and Commerce Association of Macau Northern District (AICZNM) Director General Ma Kin Cheong (second from left), and Macau General Union of Neighbourhood Associations (commonly known as Kai Fong in Cantonese) representative Chan Meng Kei, pose yesterday during the current affairs phone-in programme, Ou Mun Gwong Cheung, hosted by Ou Mun Tin Toi – the Chinese-language radio channel of public broadcaster TDM. – Photo courtesy of TDM
