The Hong Kong Productivity Council (HKPC) recently launched the new BIZ Expands Easy (BEE) funding portal empowered with BEE ePass service. The launching ceremony showcased how the one-stop platform can help systematise and optimise the funding application process for government funding applications, unlocking boundless opportunities for industries.
BEE is a one-stop integrated platform consolidating information on various government funding schemes covering digitalisation and cyber security, smart and green living, SME and start-up support, allowing a variety of industry sectors to explore funding resources and support for business development.
To help users successfully apply for suitable funding schemes, the funding portal provides a self-checking eligibility kiosk, allowing users to check their application eligibility for funding schemes at their fingertips by understanding their own business conditions and development needs, and the funding objectives, scope and application requirements, etc.
Meanwhile, the BEE ePass service allows enterprises or organisations to log in, view and manage those government funding schemes for which HKPC serves as the secretariat, and process different applications simultaneously with a single user account and password. This function also enables users to auto-pre-fill registered company information, saving the time of repeatedly filling in the application from scratch.
The Chairman of HKPC stated that in addition to providing enterprises with technical support and talent training services, the Council also serves as the secretariat of over ten government funding schemes, striving to offer professional one-stop services for stakeholders and support various industries to utilise government funding for upgrading and transformation.
He noted that to further enhance the service quality of the secretariat, HKPC has continuously implemented various digitalisation measures to optimise the user experience of the applicants. The BEE funding portal, with the new functions, has successfully been launched, as a result of the trust of the government and industry and the efforts and dedication of the HKPC team.
The Chairman noted that HKPC will continue to uphold the code of compliance and the operational and customer service excellence in expanding the support of government funding to the industries, so that they, especially SMEs, can leverage government funding to go digital, secure a foothold in the market and open up new opportunities.
The Chief Operating Officer of HKPC stated that the Funding Scheme Branch under HKPC adheres to the four core elements including Operational Excellence, Customer Service Excellence, Professional Integrity and Digitalisation, and is committed to serving Hong Kong SMEs and various organisations, striving for excellence in the work area of the secretariat.
In 2021/22, HKPC received over 12,000 funding applications in total, 75% of which were SMEs. Considering the massive demand from enterprises for government funding, HKPC launched the wholly-funded one-stop BEE funding portal to provide applicants with more all-around information on government funding schemes.
The portal allows users to check and understand the requirement of funding applications with the self-checking eligibility kiosk. Together with the BEE ePass service, this platform even allows enterprises and organisations to manage different funding applications simultaneously with a single user account and password, and auto pre-fill registered information to streamline the application process.
It is hoped that the platform can render great help to enterprises, and continue to exert the professional customer service spirit of the Funding Scheme Branch to bring positive influence on society and benefit more SMEs.
The launching ceremony has also invited nine representatives from enterprises of different sectors that have successfully applied for different government funding schemes as guest speakers in the panel discussion sessions, sharing their successful cases and experiences in applying for funding and exploring how the funding schemes can promote enterprises to respond to smart and green living and develop digital businesses. It is aimed to encourage different industries to upgrade and transform their business operations and improve their cost-effectiveness with the support of government funding.
HKPC plans to launch the BEE Mobile App early next year, allowing users to view and manage government funding applications anytime and anywhere more conveniently.
Source: https://www.hkpc.org/en/about-us/media-centre/press-releases/2022/hkpc-bee-launching-ceremony
