Under the New Southbound Policy, Ministry of Culture is calling for youth cultural gardeners to participate in a cultural exchange grants program. Submissions for the "Youth Cultural Gardeners: Taiwan- Southeast Asia Grants Program for Culture Exchanges and Collaboration" will run throughout the month of April.
Selected participants will visit Southeast Asian countries including Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, New Zealand and Australia. Through interaction in art and culture, the participants will be able to take part in activities such as field-researches, workshops, documentary filming and art festivals. In order to recruit more talents to participate in the exchange program, the age range of candidates has been amended to 20 through 45 years old.
These talented individuals will help share unique experiences and visions from Taiwan through a youthful and modern perspective. Upon their return, they will also contribute to the progress of social thought in Taiwan, broaden the citizenry's global perspectives, initiate closer ties among Taiwan and its Southeast Asia neighbors, and help the nation forge longstanding international ties based on mutual understanding and respect.
New Southbound Policy is an initiative that aims to strengthen Taiwan's trade and economic ties with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), South Asian countries, as well as New Zealand and Australia. By integrating the resources and strengths of the public and private sectors to forge a new mutually beneficial model of cooperation and a sense of economic community with those countries.
MOC introduced the "Youth Cultural Gardeners" grant program in July 2016. According to the ministry’s statistics, a total of 255 youths took part in the program and interacted with local groups in the destination countries since the commencement of the program.
For more information on the program, please visit here.