HONG KONG – The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government said Sunday it would implement a new round of measures from January to strengthen its support to the city's small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

From Jan 1, a dedicated service team SME ReachOut will commence operation and provide support through face-to-face meetings to help SMEs identify funding schemes that suit their needs, while answering questions relating to applications.

The team aims to enhance SMEs' understanding of the government's funding schemes to encourage better utilization of the support provided to them.

Additional funding has also been injected into the Dedicated Fund on Branding, Upgrading and Domestic Sales (BUD Fund) and the SME Export Marketing Fund to raise the cumulative funding ceiling and the ratio of initial payments of the enterprises joining the schemes.

From Jan 20, the BUD Fund's geographical coverage will be expanded to enhance the enterprises' competitiveness and support their exploration of Mainland and overseas markets.

Noting that enterprises are facing the challenges of the external economic environment and pressure from the downward economic trend, Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Edward Yau said the measures will provide effective and flexible support to enterprises in expanding markets, while enhancing their competitiveness to capture new business opportunities.