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Support for Small
and Medium Enterprises
25. Our external trade performance will be affected by a host of uncertainties this year. It can hardly drive our economic growth. As such, we shall need to rely on domestic demand for maintaining economic vibrancy and preserving employment. There are 320 000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Hong Kong, accounting for 98 per cent of the total local enterprises and employing 50 per cent of the private sector workforce. This underscores SMEs' role as the mainstay of our economy. To support SMEs, I shall –
| (a) |
extend the application period for the special concessionary measures under the SME Financing Guarantee Scheme to 29 February 2016; |
| (b) |
inject $1.5 billion into the SME Export Marketing and Development Funds; |
| (c) |
increase the maximum amount of funding support for each project under the SME Development Fund from $2 million to $5 million; and |
| (d) |
expand the scope of the SME Export Marketing Fund. |
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