The Government will work earnestly to garner opinion from the community regarding how to optimise its proposed e-voucher scheme, said the Chief Executive, Mr Ho Iat Seng.
The e-voucher scheme was designed to boost local consumption, rather than being a welfare measure or subsidy for all, Mr Ho added. It was put forward as part of an overall 2021 scheme to support employment, stabilise the economy and care for people’s livelihoods.
The Chief Executive told reporters after a public event on 23 March that the Government anticipated that with increased consumption within the local economy, capital flow would be improved within Macao, thereby revitalising the economy and safeguarding employment.
Mr Ho said members of the public supported the Government’s objectives. They had expressed a variety of views on the overall scheme, in a rational manner, with opinions mostly concerning the e-voucher scheme. The Government acknowledged some members of the public had commented variously that the e-voucher proposal appeared complicated in terms of the vouchers being used via locally-registered electronic payment platforms, and that the scheme was insufficiently user-friendly.
The Government noted some senior citizens might not be familiar with e-payment. That was why it was proposed the scheme’s benefits could be made available to them via their “Senior Citizen Personalised Macau Pass Card”, Mr Ho stated.
To garner further opinion from the public regarding the e-voucher proposal, the Secretary for Economy and Finance, Mr Lei Wai Nong, had met recently with representatives of community associations, Mr Ho noted.
The overall 2021 stimulus scheme covered a series of measures, including early disbursement, starting from April, of cash payments to residents, under the Wealth Partaking Scheme; steps to support workers subject to ‘no-pay’ leave arrangements; and other initiatives to benefit local people and businesses, Mr Ho said.
Launch of the entire 2021 stimulus scheme involved a set of administrative procedures, including submission of law proposals to the Legislative Assembly for approval, Mr Ho said. The Government would be inclined to put forward first those measures that had not occasioned community discussion, he added.
In other remarks, the Chief Executive also talked about issues relating to vaccination against COVID-19.
The Chief Executive noted a number of countries – for instance in places like Europe – only recognised certain COVID-19 vaccines. Mr Ho said he looked forward to the World Health Organization issuing guidelines on the matter, in order for people vaccinated with recognised vaccines to be able to travel internationally.
In addition, the Government had kept close communication with the health authorities on the mainland in order to expedite measures relating to boundary-crossing facilitation, Mr Ho said. Such measures would be adopted on a bilateral basis, and some arrangements might require consensus within the community.
Currently, a valid nucleic acid test certificate was still compulsory for boundary-crossing journeys in each direction. Mr Ho explained such a measure was in place because it would take some time to analyse how long it would take antibodies against the novel coronavirus to be built up in vaccinated individuals. Vaccination schemes in Macao and the mainland were still in the second-jab phase of the two-jab process.
The Government would keep in close touch with the mainland authorities to review progress on vaccination and on the situation regarding the epidemic. This was with a view to enabling eventually boundary-crossing movement to return to pre-pandemic levels, said Mr Ho.
