Premier Lai Ching-te on Thursday applauded the National Development Council's (NDC) efforts to promote the Design Regional Revitalization program, which has already yielded several successful demonstration projects and two achievement exhibitions over the past two years. By creating a movement and encouraging participation from all quarters, the program has laid a strong foundation for the central government in promoting regional revitalization.
According to the NDC, the program is modeled after Japan's regional revitalization experiences and aims to address Taiwan's rural population decline, rapidly graying society, declining birth rate and regional development disparities. Through subsidies for local governments, the program focuses on the use of design capabilities to improve the environment for art, culture and everyday aesthetics in rural communities. Cultivating innovative design competencies will also promote the development of industries unique to each region.
The program's role is to provide a model for how projects should be implemented, the premier said. Now that the design capability phase of the program has begun bearing fruit, the next phase will focus on technological capabilities. Premier Lai instructed the NDC to combine resources from the humanities and sciences sectors with the social responsibility initiatives of universities to enhance each region's production and marketing abilities. The council should also encourage corporate investment in small towns and integrate resources across government agencies in order to bring back the younger generation and bring about balanced regional development.