Replies to initial written questions raised by Finance Committee Members in examining the Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13 Director of Bureau : Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Session No. 12 File name : cedb(cit)- doc
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- Examination of Estimates of Expenditure 2012-13
Question : (a) Regarding the SME Export Marketing Fund (EMF), all three entries in the estimates, namely “the number of applications received and processed”, “the number of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) beneficiaries” and “the amount of grant issued by the Government” estimated for 2012 are lower than those of 2010 and 2011. What are the reasons? (b) Some businessmen opined that the grant limit of only $50,000 per application and the cumulative grant ceiling of $150,000 set by EMF for each SME to participate in exhibition are too little and cannot fully cater for the needs of SMEs. Has the Administration ever assessed what the extra expenditure will be if the above amounts increase by one fold or if those SMEs which have reached the maximum cumulative amount can re-apply after a period of time? (c) In 2012-13, the TID will continue to introduce measures and co-operate with trade and industrial organisations to assist in developing and promoting Hong Kong Brands, what are the measures and the breakdown of the related expenditure? Asked by : Hon. LAM Tai-fai Reply: (a) A series of enhancement measures were introduced to the “SME Export Marketing Fund” (EMF) during the period between 2008 and 2009, including the increase of the maximum grant and the expansion of the scope of activities eligible for funding. As a result, the number of applications increased significantly in 2009. The number of applications gradually stabilised in 2010. In 2011, the number of applications stabilised steadily but still represented an increase of 23% compared with 2008 before the implementation of the enhancement measures. We anticipate that the situation in 2012 will be more or less the same as that in 2011. (b) In 2008, the cumulative grant ceiling for each SME under EMF was significantly increased twice from $80,000 to $150,000, representing an 88% increase approximately. The grant limit for each application was also increased from $30,000 to $50,000, representing a 67% increase. Currently, about 90% of the beneficiary enterprises have not yet reached the cumulative grant ceiling. We therefore do not have any plan to further increase the ceiling at this stage. In addition, in order to benefit more enterprises with the available resources, we also do not have any plan at this stage to allow the small proportion of enterprises which have reached the cumulative grant ceiling to re-apply for EMF after a period of time. (c) TID has endeavoured to assist Hong Kong enterprises in developing and promoting brands. Its EMF supports SMEs in marketing promotion activities; while the SME Development Fund (SDF) provides financial support to industrial and trade organisations, support organisations and professional bodies to carry out projects which enhance the competitiveness of SMEs, including projects to develop and promote brands. The estimated expenditure of the above-mentioned funds for 2012-13 is $299.6 million. In 2012-13, we will also strengthen our co-operation with the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, local business associations and other relevant organisations and continue to organise seminars to help enterprises better understand brand development as well as strategies to explore the Mainland and overseas markets. TID will also disseminate practical reference information relevant to brand development through various channels (like brand promotion website). The related expenses will be covered by the recurrent expenditure of TID.
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