The Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT), in conjunction with the Macau Chamber of Commerce (ACM), announced on Saturday that a new round of the “Community Consumption Grand Prize” campaign will run from March 24 to June 1, offering e-wallet holders vouchers with a face value of up to 200 patacas and 300 patacas in discounts for Senior Citizen Macau Pass Card holders – and ACM President Frederico Ma Chi Ngai said in a speech that the upcoming campaign aims to “sustain the positive business growth trend” observed during this year’s Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday.
This will be the third large-scale consumer promotion campaign jointly launched by the government and the chamber, with a budget of 2.95 billion patacas and the participation of about 22,000 business operators – similar to the number in the last campaign.
Addressing a joint press conference at the ACM Building in Zape on Saturday, DSEDT Director Yau Yun Wah cited the results of the two previous campaigns, pointing out that the turnover of participating business operators in local communities, as well as their transactions over weekends, recorded “significant” increases during the campaign periods. Referring to the campaign launched in September last year, he added that the redemption of e-vouchers for that campaign exceeded 220 million patacas, driving consumption of over 1.1 billion patacas, resulting in a leverage of about five times.
He added that the economic benefits generated from March’s campaign are expected to be similar to those of last year.
E-vouchers no longer to be used at large-scale enterprises, such as supermarkets
According to the press conference, the rules of the upcoming campaign are similar to those of last year’s event, with the exception that the electronic offers can no longer be used for buying goods from large supermarket chains and shops in integrated resorts, nor for paying water and electricity bills, Yau said: “All these changes are aimed at enhancing the promotion of consumer development in the community”.
Similarly, from Mondays to Fridays during the 10-week-long campaign, e-wallet users who spend 50 patacas or more at participating small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will have three chances per week to win coupons, which will be available in denominations of 10 patacas, 20 patacas, 50 patacas, 100 patacas and 200 patacas for use on weekends. Their e-payment platform will automatically validate one or more coupons after users spend three times the total value of the coupons, i.e., business operators will no longer need to split the bill for their customers in order to help them utilise all their offers before the new round of e-voucher draws. The offer will be valid for one week each time.
Senior Citizen Macau Pass Card holders may top up for concessions from next Thursday
Yau pointed out that, after collecting the feedback from the last campaign indicating that the elderly encountered difficulties in using e-wallets and participating in related activities, the upcoming campaign will introduce additional senior citizen discounts. Holders of the new version of the Senior Citizen Macau Pass Card can from next Thursday (March 6) top up their cards at service points to receive concessions totalling up to 300 patacas, in which a discount of five patacas will be applied to a purchase of 10 patacas, and so on. The maximum amount is determined based on the average discounts received for each e-wallet user in the last campaign, Yau added.
According to Yau, it is estimated that about 10,000 of some 128,000 Senior Citizen Macau Pass Cards will need to be replaced with the new version at the service venues of various social organisations and the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS) in order to receive the concessions – the locations of which will be announced in due course.
During the press conference, Yau warned senior citizens against SMS phishing scams, underlining that Macau Pass would not send any text messages regarding the renewal of their cards.
Speaking to the Post after Saturday’s press conference, Ma said that the campaign aims to boost local consumption following the CNY holiday and to promote stable socio-economic development, underlining that the campaign was just a short-term initiative to help businesses cope with economic fluctuations, but in the long run, it would depend on enterprises to adapt to changes in consumption trends.
The final Grand Prize lucky draw is slated to be held after the campaign. The lucky draw’s date and amounts will be announced in due course, government sources last time. All the consumers taking part in the campaign will be automatically entered into the draw.
Last time, the Macau Chamber of Commerce’s Grand Prize amounted to 100,000 patacas in cash. In addition, there will also will be a cash prize paid out every week.
Representatives from the organising entities of the upcoming “Community Consumption Grand Prize” campaign, including Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) Director Yau Yun Wah (behind, second from left) and Macau Chamber of Commerce (ACM) President Frederico Ma Chi Ngai (behind, third from left), pose during Saturday’s press conference at the ACM headquarters in Zape about the details of the Grand Prize consumer promotion campaign, which will run from March 24 to June 1. – Photo: Maria Cheang Ut Meng
