Macao now has around 15,000 small and medium enterprises (“SMEs”) which account for about 99% of total number of enterprises. SMEs are one of the main bloodlines of Macao’s economy and play a major role in foreign trade and economic activities. Therefore, the sustainable development of SMEs is a major factor contributing to economic development and prosperity of society at large. Regrettably, the importance of SMEs as a major economic sector had not been well received by government and society over the recent decades. This ignorance has caused SMEs to miss out opportunities in business development, chances in improving the operational environment and operational productivity. At the same time, businessmen are pacified with current situation (which resulted from long-held political, economic and cultural factors) and demotivated to venture into new business areas. Therefore, most SMEs are still in their rudimentary stage which cannot cope with rapid market changes.
The threats facing SMEs in Macao are:
- dependence on adequacy supply of different classes of labour and skilled workforce,
- lacking modern management techniques for family businesses,
- unpopular use of IT applications,
- limited capital resources,
- restricted sales network especially in Mainland and overseas markets,
- inert response to market changes
Over the recent twenty years, we can witness the substantial growth and development in nearby regions. Particularly, businesses in the Pearl River Delta region (which had started to boom in the 1980s) have now surpass in size and efficiency over SMEs in Macao. Thus, in order to enliven SMEs and to accelerate economic development in Macao, Mr. Stanley Au Chong Kit and a group of dedicated businessmen decided in 1998 to set up “The Small and Medium Enterprises Association in Macao” (“the Association”). The Association aims to provide a better business environment and ample business opportunities (including reach for capital resources), and to help SMEs in looking ahead for expanding into Mainland and overseas markets. The Association seeks to motivate corporate and individual agility in wealth creation through provision of better products and services, and in contributing to economic recovery and resources development in Macao.