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Taiwan’s CSR guidelines to include clause on cultural development

  • Date:2019-07-02
Taiwan’s CSR guidelines to include clause on cultural development

The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TWSE) has agreed to write "fostering cultural development" into the "preserve public welfare" category of its "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Best Practice Principles for TWSE/GTSM-Listed Companies" after nearly two years of talks beginning in 2017 with the Ministry of Culture.

 

To encourage listed companies in Taiwan to support the development of local cultural and art sectors, the Ministry began talks with the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC) and the Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation (TWSE) in 2017 over the inclusion of a clause on "fostering cultural development" in their CSR guidelines. The TWSE gave its consent in June this year.

 

While expressing her gratitude to TWSE and FSC, Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun noted that the inclusion will inspire Taiwan's publicly held companies to financially support the development of local art and cultural sectors, whether in sponsorship, venue reservation, advertisement, marketing, or other cooperative measures.

 

The Ministry launched the "CSR Match" website earlier this year at csrmatch.moc.gov.tw, which is an open platform for matching CSR enterprises with arts and cultural professionals. Interested companies can search for suitable projects on the website while creators in need of financial support can post their proposals. Or, the two parties can take part in the Ministry's matchmaking workshops.

 

The matchmaking initiative will be supervised by the newly launched Taiwan Creative Content Agency, which is tasked with inspiring the development of cultural content in the form of audiovisual production, pop music, traditional and digital publishing, games, fashion, and design; supporting the arts and the application of innovative technologies to culture; and building a financial network for cultural and creative sectors.

 

TWSE released its guide on CSR best practices in 2010 and suggested that all publicly held companies on the main-board or over-the-counter markets should begin providing CSR reports. Seven years later, the FSC began requiring all listed companies on the island with a registered capital of NT$5 billion or above to comply. Enterprises are advised to follow four major principles: exercise corporate governance, foster a sustainable environment, preserve public welfare, and enhance disclosure of CSR information.

 

However, issues related to cultural development were not included in these principles, prompting the Ministry to meet with the two financial watchdogs in 2017 over how to codify "fostering cultural development" as part of national guidelines on corporate social responsibility. The Minister stressed that fostering the development of Taiwan's artistic and cultural output is very crucial to the enhancement of cultural citizenship and civic participation.

 

Read the original press release here.