Youth entrepreneurship confidence rises thanks to gov’t initiatives

Young people’s confidence in starting their own businesses has been effectively boosted by government policy initiatives over the years, according to survey reports.

A survey titled “Research on Macau’s Youth Entrepreneurship Environment and Support Policies,” conducted early this year by the Macau Management Association (MMA) and the Macau Management Institute (MIM), found that 60.5% of young respondents have entrepreneurial ideas or plans, with 32.3% actively preparing.

Over 97.6% of respondents agreed that “cooperation opportunities with the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area and Hengqin are abundant and can expand the market,” while 81.6% gave positive ratings to the local “infrastructure and business environment.”

“These figures reflect that the government’s policy investments over the years have effectively boosted young people’s confidence in starting businesses, particularly with strong recognition of Hengqin integration,” the report noted.

According to the report, which additionally incorporated in-depth interviews, multiple entrepreneurs indicated that Hengqin’s advantages in terms of talent pool, testing environments, and market scale have enabled projects that were previously constrained by Macau’s spatial limitations to achieve rapid growth, with several acknowledging that they have already relocated portions of their research and development or operational centers to Hengqin.

Youth entrepreneurship is emerging as an “important innovative force” in the government’s “1+4” economic diversification strategy, especially in key sectors including big health, high technology, and convention, trade, culture and sports, the report highlighted.

As noted in the report, the Young Entrepreneurs Aid Scheme, launched in 2013, has received nearly 3,000 applications to date and has effectively alleviated financial pressures faced by young entrepreneurs during their initial startup phase.

Furthermore, the measures on promoting Macau youth innovation and entrepreneurship, implemented in the Guangdong-Macau In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin in February 2024, have provided a substantive platform enabling young entrepreneurs to overcome local market size constraints and gain access to Greater Bay Area resources.

Meanwhile, the report calls for strengthening youth entrepreneurship support by deepening Macau-Hengqin integration with mutual recognition and data flow, launching a one-stop digital platform for streamlined applications, and embedding entrepreneurship education in secondary schools, while promoting success stories to foster a culture of innovation.