Macau Foundation subsidies reached MOP1.1b last year

Wu Zhiliang

The Macau Foundation (FM) has improved its mechanism to grant financial support, Wu Zhiliang said yesterday on the sidelines of a meeting with media representatives. The foundation’s Administrative Committee president said that the FM has advanced in “works related to train new talents and to promote the history and culture of China.”

During yesterday’s meeting, Wu reviewed the works conducted in 2017. A total of MOP1.1 billion was given to support 2,222 events. Most of the money (44 percent) was donated to education and academic research, followed by social welfare (15 percent) and charity activities (11 percent). The value attributed to scholarships reached MOP74 million.

The FM president stressed that during 2017, many field trips were organized to mainland China in order to “strengthen local students’ knowledge of the Chinese culture and national development, increasing their feeling of integration in the development of the motherland.” Additionally, several scholarships were set up to promote the “One Belt, One Road” policy.

Following the damage caused by Typhoon Hato back in August, the FM granted support to family members of the deceased and also to people who suffered injuries or damage in their homes. Wu said that the total amount of subsidies granted under the special program created to face the damage caused by Typhoon Hato reached MOP494 million. A total of 6,600 requests for financial help were received by the program and around 70 percent of those requests have already been analyzed by FM staff.