From January to September this year, the Cultural Industries Fund (FIC) granted a total of MOP124 million in financial support, FIC Administration Council member Davina Chu Miu Lai said on Thursday.
Chu made the remarks at a press conference about the fund’s financial support in the first nine months of the year.
According to Chu, of the 62 projects the fund received this year for financial support until last Saturday, 53 were approved while nine were turned down, resulting in an approval rate of 85 percent.
The MOP124 million the fund granted in the first nine months of the year comprises MOP76 million in subsidies for projects and MOP47 million in interest-free loans, or 62 percent and 38 percent respectively of the total amount granted. The fund assists five categories: creative design, exhibitions and cultural performances, collection of artwork, digital media, and others.
According to the Macau Post Daily, Chu said that concerning the number of projects granted financial support, creative design took up the greatest share, or 41 percent, adding that almost half of those in the category were related to fashion design, the creative design category’s main sector in the past few years. Digital media came second, taking up 38 percent. She added that the fund saw a rise in projects related to new media, TV programmes and films this year.
Apart from the regular applications by enterprises, next year the fund will financially support “specific projects”, according to Chu. On the one hand, the fund will encourage local enterprises to optimise their competitiveness through cultural and creative programmes. On the other hand, it will promote the branding of enterprises in the cultural industry, so that they can seek opportunities overseas such as in Portuguese-speaking countries in conjunction with the central government’s Belt and Road Initiative and its plans for the Greater Bay Area development.
