《TAIPEI TIMES》 Culture spending to hit NT$65.9bn: Lai

健康 國際 地方 蒐奇 影音 財經 娛樂 汽車 時尚 體育 3 C 評論 藝文 玩咖 食譜 地產 專區 TAIPEI TIMES 求職

President William Lai speaks at the National Cultural Conference in Taipei yesterday. Photo: Screen grab from the Presidential Office’s Flickr page

NO RETREAT: The government would continue to support the nation’s culture, particularly efforts to bring Taiwanese culture to international audiences, Cho said

By Ling Mei-hsueh and Fion Khan / Staff reporter, with staff writer and CNA

The government’s overall culture-related funding would reach NT$65.9 billion （US$2.07 billion） next year, President William Lai （賴清德） said yesterday, as he outlined four priorities for the development of nation’s cultural sector.

Taiwan’s economy has expanded rapidly in the past few years, with economic growth expected to exceed 11 percent this year, while average per capita national income is projected to reach US$46,000, giving Taiwan an opportunity to become one of the world’s 20 largest economies, Lai said at the National Cultural Conference in Taipei.

“While a strong economy makes a country powerful, culture is what makes a country great,” he said. “Technology allows Taiwan to move fast, while culture enables it to go far.”

Referring to his presidential campaign proposals for cultural sustainability and a “global Taiwan,” Lai said his administration would continue to increase cultural spending.

While the Ministry of Culture’s budget has been substantially cut or frozen by the legislature over the past two years, the Executive Yuan would not reduce its support for cultural development, he said.

The government has allocated NT$28.8 billion to expenditures overseen by the ministry next year, Lai said.

The total reaches NT$32 billion, an increase of about 7.9 percent from the previous year, when general-purpose subsidies are included, he added.

Factoring in special funds and related expenditures from other ministries and agencies, overall cultural spending would reach NT$65.9 billion, demonstrating the government’s resolve to support culture, he said.

Lai outlined four priorities for the nation’s cultural development amid challenges posed by artificial intelligence, digital transformation and changing global environment: cultivating future generations, strengthening local cultural identity, promoting technology innovation while safeguarding human dignity and helping the world better understand Taiwan.

Premier Cho Jung-tai （卓榮泰） and Minister of Culture Li Yuan （李遠） also attended the opening ceremony of the conference.

The government would continue to support culture, particularly efforts to bring Taiwanese culture to international audiences, Cho said in his speech.

“The government’s support for culture will never retreat. We will continue moving forward,” he said.

Taiwan faces two major challenges in promoting its culture domestically and internationally, he said.

Domestically, the nation must resist “cultural killers” and protect cultural industries, he said, referring to legislative cuts to the Ministry of Culture’s budget.

Internationally, as foreign cultural influences are spreading through film and television, and the use of certain words and social media, such as Douyin （抖音） — the Chinese version of TikTok — Taiwan must guard against the erosion of cultural subjectivity, he said.

“If we cannot protect the subjectivity of Taiwan’s local culture, the encroachment of foreign cultures will erode the fundamental spirit of our democratic constitutional order and damage the hard-won foundations of our local culture,” he said.

The recommendations that emerged from the National Cultural Conference would be discussed by the Cabinet’s cultural affairs board, he said.

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