The government’s Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) approved 510 projects last year, involving 260 million patacas in financial support, FDCT President Frederico Ma Chi Ngai announced Thursday.
Ma announced the figures during a press conference on the premises of the Government Information Bureau (GCS) about the fund’s activities last year.
According to Ma, the 510 projects were selected from 639 applications for financial support.
Ma, a businessman, pointed out that the number of project applications rose significantly between last year and 2017 when the fund approved 400 projects which involved 198.6 million patacas in financial support.
FDCT board member Cheang Kun Wai told the press conference that the fund was becoming “more rigorous” than in previous years when approving project applications. For example, just 63.8 percent of the science project applications were approved for financial support last year, Cheang said.
Ma noted that the fund continues to support the government’s plan to turn Macau into a “smart city”. He pointed out that the fund held a 45-day public consultation on the “smart city” concept between May 17 and June 30 last year.
Ma said that the findings of the public consultation had already been submitted to Chief Executive Fernando Chui Sai On for evaluation, adding that the fund expected to be able to publish the findings soon.
On the sidelines of the press conference, the fund and Shenzhen-based WeBank signed a cooperation deal for the development of blockchain technology projects in Macau.
