The government’s financial support programme offering a subsidy to local small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to digitalise their operations will be launched for the third time this year, with the number of places to “significantly” increase to 1,500 from the 900 provided by last year’s edition – up by 66.66 percent.
Announcing this year’s programme yesterday, the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) said that the government would even consider further increasing the number of places offered for the subsidies if the upcoming application periods receive an overwhelming response from applicants.
This year’s subsidy amount for each beneficiary will remain unchanged at 18,000 patacas from last year’s edition.
The programme was jointly funded by the government and two gaming operators last year, while this time, in addition to the government’s payments to the programme, it will also be financially supported by all of the city’s six gaming operators.
A press conference about this year’s programme was held at the DSEDT headquarters in Nam Van yesterday.
The subsidy programme was first rolled out in 2023 on a pilot basis, providing 200 places, aiming to encourage local SMEs to carry out a digital transformation in their marketing campaigns, payments, and other daily operations.
The programme was launched for the second time last year, initially offering 600 places, but the number of places was later increased to 900 as the programme received an overwhelming response from applicants.
Last year’s programme had two application periods, in May and November, with each period initially offering 300 places. Due to the overwhelming response from applicants, the number of places in the first application period was later increased to 600, while the number of places in the second application period remained at 300 as initially planned.
The support programme has been launched by the Economic and Technological Development Bureau, which has 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.
Overwhelming response from applicants
Addressing yesterday’s press conference, DSEDT Deputy Director Chan Chou Weng noted that both the 2023 and 2024 editions of the programme received an overwhelming response from applicants, indicating that “there is great demand from local SMEs for upgrading their operations through digital transformation”.
A DSEDT statement yesterday noted that the programme’s 2023 edition, which provided 200 places, received 1,208 applications, while its 2024 edition, which provided 900 places, received 1,649 applications.
Consequently, Chan said, his bureau has decided to continue with the programme this year, with the number of places to “significantly” increase to 1,500 from the 900 offered in last year’s edition, aiming to enable more local SMEs to benefit.
All 6 gaming operators backing programme
Chan also said that this year’s programme can be further expanded thanks to the six gaming operators’ respective commitment to financially supporting the programme – Galaxy, SJM, Sands, Melco, MGM, and Wynn, in addition to the government’s continued payments to it.
The programme’s 2023 edition was fully financed by the government, while its 2024 edition was jointly funded by the government and two gaming operators, namely Galaxy and MGM.
Chan also said that the government will pay 19 million patacas to this year’s programme, while its remaining expected cost will be borne by the six gaming operators. Chan said that it was “not convenient” for him to reveal exactly how much the six gaming operators will pay in total, but he added that the total amount of their payments would be larger than the 19 million patacas to be paid by the government.
According to yesterday’s press conference, this year’s programme will also have two application periods, each of which will offer 750 places. The first application will run between June 3 and 22, while the second one will run between November 3 and 21.
As the previous two editions, this time locally established companies that employ no more than 100 employees will be eligible for the programme.
Companies previously benefitting from the programme’s 2023 or 2024 editions or a previous subsidy programme for restaurants to digitalise their operations will not be eligible for the upcoming programme.
As the previous two editions, this time each beneficiary will receive a subsidy of up to 18,000 patacas for a service to be provided by one of the programme’s listed IT companies which will digitalise their operations.
As the previous two editions, beneficiaries will be chosen from eligible and accepted applicants through lucky draws. Successful applicants will be required to take a three-hour training course on digital transformation, after which CPTTM technicians will visit the respective business premises to assess their operational situation before providing them with digital transformation advice and possible solutions. Finally, the beneficiaries can choose, by referencing the CPTTM advice and solutions, a supplier from the programme’s listed IT companies.
The course of last year’s programme lasted six hours.
Focus on AI tools
Chan said yesterday that this time the training courses will also focus more than before on the better use of artificial intelligence (AI) to upgrade business operations. Moreover, Chan said, the services to digitalise business operations to be provided by the programme’s listed IT companies will feature different AI tools.
As last year, this time the programme will only accept companies that have been awarded “Certified Shops” by the government’s Consumer Council (CC), or those that are applying for the “Certified Shops” awards when submitting their applications.
Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT) Deputy Director Chan Chou Weng (centre) speaks during yesterday’s press conference about this year’s subsidy programme for local SMEs’ digital transformation, as Macau Productivity and Technology Transfer Centre (CPTTM) Director General Victoria Alexa Kuan Chan (left) and Consumer Council (CC) President Leong Pek San look on. – Photo: Tony Wong
