The Executive Yuan passed the draft establishment act for the Cultural Content Institute (文化內容策進院) proposed by the Ministry of Culture on March 8, paving the way for Taiwan to use its culture and original content as an international calling card.
The draft act, which contains 35 articles regulating objectives, sources of funding, operations, and the supervisory system of the Cultural Content Institute, is based on the Law for the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries.
The act will be submitted to the Legislative Yuan for review along with amendments to Articles 5, 7, and 30 of the Law for the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries.
As cultural content is the core of the cultural and creative industries, the Ministry seeks to tackle issues of limited market size, lack of production, and talent outflows, as well as challenges brought by imported cultural products through rejuvenating and supporting Taiwan's cultural content.
The Ministry had evaluated the functions of the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Research Institute that was outlined in the Law for the Development of the Cultural and Creative Industries, and concluded that it was insufficiently equipped to resolve the issues faced by the creative industries today.
By studying international trends and market research, the Ministry re-planned and changed the original proposal calling for the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Research Institute to the Cultural Content Institute.
The Cultural Content Institute will serve as an agent to bridge the government and the private sectors, and apply the arm's length principle to revitalizing audiovisual, ACG (anime, comics, and games), and publishing sectors.
It will also conduct research, foster talents, develop new materials, and operate the National Memories Database as well as construct a financing system for cultural content, manage funding, and apply technology to develop the infrastructure and ecology of the creative industries, and promote Taiwanese content in overseas markets.
The Ministry will build a platform for integrating resources and encouraging interdisciplinary collaboration and investment by combining Taiwan’s original content with industries such as manufacturing, technology, and science.
Moreover, the Ministry will partner with the National Culture and Arts Foundation, the National Performing Arts Center, the Taiwan Film Institute, and the Taiwan Design Center to forge a national team to support the development of cultural content.
The Ministry calls for support from both the public and private sector to back the Cultural Content Institute – for original, quality content has become one of the most important factors that drive our nation's industrial advancement and economic growth.