Given the wave of digitization, platform integration and technological innovation have become keys for the development of cultural and creative industries, Premier Jiang Yi-huah said today.
In addition, under the framework of globalization, mainland China's market has had a magnet effect on Taiwan's relevant capital and talents, Jiang noted. He urged the Ministry of Culture (MOC) to propose solutions to the various problems Taiwan's cultural and creative industries are facing in order to help them upgrade and increase their output value.
The premier made these remarks after the MOC briefed him on its projects for the cultural and creative sector. He noted the government has named this field one of six emerging industries and actively promoted it, and the results of these efforts are gradually coming to fruition.
The MOC's cultural and creative industries development program was approved by the Executive Yuan in 2009 and includes two parts: environment preparations and flagship plans. The agency is in charge of overall planning for the former, which aims at building a friendly developmental environment for all cultural and creative industries so that they can grow as they receive proper guidance and assistance, its officials said.
Flagship plans are intended to promote relatively mature industries with high value potential and very beneficial connections to other industries. Such sectors include Taiwanese crafts, motion pictures, television, popular music, digital content and design. Each of the plans is tailored to its target industry's particular characteristics and needs. It is hoped that as such target are strengthened, others that are connected to them will grow as well.
The MOC is responsible for promoting the flagship plans for arts and crafts, film, TV and popular music. Facing the challenges of globalization and digitalization, the ministry plans to make popular music the greatest focus of its next stage of flagship plan implementation and the television, film and publication industries additional focuses.
By solving problems related to cross-strait negotiation, the divide between industries and academia, marketing integration, intellectual property protection and cooperation in supervising and guiding agencies, the MOC expects to make Taiwan's cultural and creative industries an international benchmark. It aims to raise the output value of popular music to NT$20 billion (US$671.37 million), of TV to NT$140 billion (US$4.70 billion), of motion pictures to NT$32 billion (US$1.07 billion) and of publication industries to NT$103.7 billion (US$3.48 billion) by 2019.
Noting this is the second time he has been briefed on the cultural and creative industries development program, the premier pledged to personally convene related meetings within the next year and invited ministers to participate and cooperate with the MOC to complete the plan's implementation.