The government will launch a pilot programme next week offering a subsidy to small- and medium-sized restaurants and other eateries to purchase and install smart kitchen equipment, i.e., automated and robotic cooking machines.
The programme aims to encourage the city’s small- and medium-sized restaurants to upgrade their operations by automating their dish preparing and cooking process so that they can reduce costs and improve operation efficiency, thanks to which their competitiveness can be enhanced.
The subsidy programme will be carried out by the government in collaboration with the United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macau.
The pilot programme will be financed by the Industrial and Commercial Development Fund (FDIC), a public fund run by the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) which in conjunction with the association has jointly commissioned the public Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre (CPTTM) to implement the programme.
CPTTM is a non-profit organisation jointly funded by the Macau government and various companies and businesspeople in the private sector.
The new subsidy programme was announced yesterday during a press conference at the CPTTM Fashion Lab, located on the 10th floor of Phase 2 of Ocean Industrial Centre (海洋工業中心) on Rua dos Pescadores (漁翁街).
Details of the programme were presented by Thomas Mak Seng Hin, a CPTTM manager.
The application period will run between Monday next week and February 14.
For companies that run more than one restaurant, each can apply to receive a subsidy to buy and install smart kitchen equipment for up to three of its restaurants.
In addition to kitchens in restaurants, the subsidy programme will also cover the purchase and installation of automated and robotic cooking machines for the respective dining companies’ central kitchens, i.e., plants that prepare and cook food to be served in their respective restaurants.
For companies that operate more than one central kitchen, each can only apply to receive the subsidy for one of its central kitchens.
Only restaurants or central kitchens that employ no more than 100 employees will be eligible for the programme.
In addition to restaurants that are operating, the subsidy programme will also cover firms that are applying for licences to run restaurants.
Each restaurant will receive a subsidy equivalent to 80 percent of the cost required to buy and install automated and robotic cooking machines in its kitchen, with the subsidy amount to be capped at 50,000 patacas.
Each central kitchen will also receive a subsidy equivalent to 80 percent of the cost, but the subsidy amount to be capped at 100,000 patacas.
The subsidy will cover the purchase, delivery and installation of the equipment as well as the maintenance services for the first year.
Beneficiaries can only purchase smart kitchen equipment for their restaurants or central kitchens from the programme’s listed suppliers.
The pilot programme will offer 50 places for restaurants and 10 places for central kitchens. After the application period, a lucky draw will be held to choose the beneficiaries for the subsidy from eligible and accepted applicants. The lucky draw’s results will be announced on the CPTTM website late next month.
Mak noted during the press conference that for a company that applies for the subsidy for up to three of its restaurants, each of its restaurants will have the same chance of being selected by the lucky draw.
Iong Nin Fai, acting chief of the bureau’s Technology Department, said during yesterday’s press conference that the government decided to offer 50 places for restaurants to apply for the subsidy as the programme will be a new one to be run on a pilot basis first. “As a pilot programme, the government has concluded that 50 places will be enough”, Iong said, adding that the government will assess whether the pilot programme achieves the desired results before deciding whether to launch the subsidy for the second time and whether to increase the number of places next time.
Terence Liem Tao, a senior CPTTM manager, said that the programme is expected to cost up to 4.8 million patacas, comprising up to 3.5 million patacas as payments of the subsidy to the beneficiaries and the remainder to be used to run the programme.
Iong Nin Fai (from left to right), acting chief of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau’s (DSEDT) Technology Department, United Association of Food and Beverage Merchants of Macau President Lei U Weng, Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre (CPTTM) Director General Victoria Alexa Kuan Chan, and Terence Liem Tao, a senior CPTTM manager, look on during yesterday’s press conference. – Photos: Tony Wong
Thomas Mak Seng Hin, a CPTTM manager, presents details of the subsidy programme during yesterday’s press conference.
A representative shows reporters samples of smart kitchen equipment at the CPTTM Fashion Lab after yesterday’s press conference.
