Director-general of Trade & Industry Raymond Young says the Small & Medium Enterprise Funding Schemes have brought considerable benefits to Hong Kong.

They help such enterprises secure loans for acquiring business installations and equipment, expand overseas markets, upgrade human resources and enhance overall competitiveness.

Over $ 8.3 billion in guarantees or grants have been approved and nearly 50,000 enterprises have benefited.

The funding provision and government commitment for the schemes amounted to $2.2 billion and $12 billion, enterprises can also benefit from the projects funded under the SME Development Fund.

Guarantee scheme

"There are currently around 50 lending institutions participating in the SME Loan Guarantee Scheme. The Government has approved $7.3 billion in loan guarantees, generating $16.3 billion in loans from lending institutions. On average every SME making use of the SGS receives about $2 million from lending institutions," Mr Young said.

"The loan guarantee has helped over 8,300 small and medium enterprises to acquire business and equipment loans and working capital loans from lending institutions to enhance business growth, creating about 3,700 new jobs for Hong Kong."

For the Export Marketing Fund, the Government has provided cash grants totalling $615 million to over 15,000 enterprises.

Noting that over 27% of the beneficiaries are firms which have only been established for less than three years, Mr Young said it showed the scheme was conducive to business starters.

Mr Young said a survey on the effectiveness of the Export Marketing Fund showed that over 85% of the respondents considered the fund had encouraged them to participate more actively in export promotion activities.