Trade chamber: Budget for MICE events subsidy unaffected

The austerity measures announced by the government this week will not affect the budget allocation for subsidy schemes supporting the meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions (MICE) organised here but the government has pledged a closer scrutiny of the selection of subsidy beneficiaries, the director of the Macau Convention and Exhibition Association, Alan Ho Hoi Meng, told us. “The budget allocation for subsidising the organising of MICE events is basically fixed for this year and the first half of next year, so I don’t think the austerity measures announced by the government will impact the subsidy schemes in the short-term,” Mr Ho told us. “But the government said it would be more careful and selective when granting subsidies to beneficiaries,” he added. “For instance, when the government sees some events like shopping carnivals being held in the same month, of which the activity nature is very similar and does not generate much economic benefit, they will not be granting any aid to support these events.” Two programmes Mr. Ho’s association recently attended a meeting of the advisory body, the Committee for the Development of Convention and Exhibition, last week, which was hosted by the Secretary for Economy and Finance Lionel Leong Vai Tac. Currently, two schemes are practised by the government to subsidise MICE events held here; namely, the Convention and Exhibition Stimulation Programme and the International Meeting and Trade Fair Support Programme. These two programmes, which have a slightly different scope in terms of target coverage, both subsidise event organisers’ costs for participants’ accommodation, promotion and marketing, as well as transport, interpretation and translation services. The grantor of the two programmes is the autonomous body the Macau Industrial and Commercial Development Fund. Declining revenues For the first half of this year, the financial support from the government and other organisations for the exhibition organisers here occupies 34.5 per cent or MOP26.9 million of their total receipts at MOP78 million, official data shows. But the receipts the exhibition organisers had in the period was declining at a faster rate than their expenditure: the organisers’ income dropped 11.2 per cent year-on-year to MOP78 million in the January-June period but expenses only dipped 4.3 per cent to MOP86.6 million. Following a losing streak of 15 consecutive months in gross gaming revenue as at August the Macau Government announced on Tuesday a set of cost-cutting measures, including the ‘freezing’ of 5 per cent of the budgeted consumption spending for government departments and autonomous bodies, as well as the freezing of 10 per cent of budgeted investment spending. Speaking to reporters in Beijing on Wednesday, Mr Leong said that the government would not rule out a second round of cost-cutting measures if worse economic data emerges although such measures would not impact social welfare policies and public investment plans (PIDDA).