SME, young entrepreneurs fund receives overwhelming response

The government has received more than 2,000 applications for the SME Website Fund and some 587 applications for the Young Entrepreneurs Aid Scheme since the establishment of the two subsidised programmes, said a department head from the Macau Economic Services (DSE).
The head of the Exhibitions and Economic Activities Development Department, Chan Weng Tat, said on Thursday that the number of applications for the SME Website Fund had reached a total of 2,246, exceeding the 1,500 expected applications.
The scheme, which invited applications from September 15 of last year, will stop accepting applications on March 16. Mr. Chan predicted that the total number of applications will top 2,800 cases in the coming fortnight.
According to the department head, 70 per cent of the applications received are from the retail and sales industry. Meanwhile, the department has granted nearly 450 applications.
The SME Website fund hands out subsidies of between 6,000 patacas (US$750) and 50,000 patacas for small and medium sized enterprises to set up or maintain their own website.
Meanwhile, Mr. Chan said that another subsidised programme of the department – the Young Entrepreneurs Aid Scheme – had approved a total of 385 of 586 applications received, authorising 92.18 million patacas since the scheme was introduced in August 2013.
The department head indicated that half of the subsidised applications are from retailers, while another 10 per cent of the total are from those who plan to set up Food & Beverage or service businesses.
However, 15 companies had shut down after receiving the fund, according to Mr. Chan.
In addition, subsidies to some 23 companies were terminated – amounting 5.2 million patacas – as 15 did not submit progress reports on their projects or invoices for their expenditure to the government department on time.
The Young Entrepreneurs Aid Scheme offers interest-free loans of up to 300,000 patacas for young people to start their own business. Entrepreneurs aged between 21 and 44 are eligible for a loan for eight years, with repayments starting after 18 months.