Echoing the New Southbound Policy initiated by the Executive Yuan in 2017, the Ministry of Culture (MOC) started to expand its overseas offices in the Indo-Pacific region such as in Bangkok, Sydney, and New Delhi, integrating with the existing office in Kuala Lumpur to form a larger cultural network.
The New Southbound Policy is an initiative of Taiwan that aims to strengthen cooperation and exchange with Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Australasia.
Since 2013, MOC has been encouraging arts and cultural workers to connect with the New Southbound countries. As a result, a total of 211 groups have been subsidized by MOC to visit those countries. Furthermore, the Southeast Asia Advisory Committee in Taiwan has organized 102 events over the past 5 years, and this year’s forum managed to reach approximately 25,000 online participants including those from the West.
In 2018, MOC facilitated the establishment of Living Arts International’s (LAI) office in Taiwan. LAI is noted for being the first arts and culture NGO in Southeast Asia. Since then, the Ministry has worked with nearly 200 cultural workers and launched several regional exchanges for cultural and creative professionals.
MOC also has been investing in the audiovisual and music industry and driving more content into the New Southbound markets. It includes 1,233 productions whose copyrights were sold to buyers in the region. Additionally, the first streaming platform entirely made in English, TaiwanPlus, was launched in 2022 and it started to be featured on Eazie TV, a Singaporean platform, in August this year.
In order to serve new immigrants in Taiwan, the Public Television Service (PTS) started to broadcast television news in Southeast Asian languages five years ago. Furthermore, Radio Taiwan International, having been producing shows in Southeast Asian languages for over 70 years, will continue its effort to present local and international news for new immigrants in their mother tongue.
In addition, the Ministry has helped translate Taiwanese literary works into in Southeast Asian languages, including Vietnamese, Thai, Malay, Burmese, and Tamil, and publish them in the New Southbound countries.
MOC also expanded its website with an Indonesian version, and set up a “Cultural Exchanges under the New Southbound Policy” section in Chinese and English, publicly showcasing its results. Adhering to respect for differences and multiculturalism, MOC strives to develop partnerships with the New Southbound countries and collectively create a regional renaissance.