Taiwan Today

Under the i-Taiwan 12 Projects, the government and businesses are working to develop Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry.

In early March this year, the International Forum Design GmbH, best known as the force behind the prestigious iF product design awards, held its iF concept award exhibition of 100 outstanding design concepts created by students and designers within two years of their graduation. The competition for a slot at the show in Hannover, Germany was fierce, as organizers were tasked with selecting the 100 designs from a total of 8,007 submissions. When all was said and done, the judges selected more works by Taiwanese designers—31 in total—than those by counterparts from any other country, with South Korea placing second with 24 selections.

Meanwhile, further evidence of Taiwan’s emerging strength in the cultural and creative industry came when China Newsweek, a well-known magazine in mainland China, selected Taiwan’s Stan Lai at the end of 2010 as one of four figures who had exerted the greatest impact in the mainland that year in the category of culture. The local playwright garnered the honor mostly because of his role as co-creator of The Village, a stage play that has been gaining popularity throughout the Mandarin-speaking world since it was first performed in Taipei in December 2008. Since that time, the play has been staged more than 80 times, including performances in Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Los Angeles and San Francisco, as well as in eight cities in mainland China.

Such examples show that Taiwan is beginning to realize its potential as a strong player in the global cultural and creative industry, much as it has been for some time in the information technology (IT) sector. To hasten the realization of that potential, the Republic of China (ROC) government is now taking steps to stimulate the development of Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry, as it did with the IT sector beginning in the 1960s. Count Government Information Office (GIO) Minister Johnny Chi-chen Chiang as one of the administration officials who sees clear links between the IT industry, the cultural and creative industry and the consolidation of Taiwan’s status and strength on the world stage. “If Taiwan can develop the cultural and creative industry with the resolute spirit behind its high-tech industries, its soft power definitely will receive major support,” he says.

Most experts peg the world’s first government effort to identify and promote national cultural and creative assets as an industrial sector as taking place in the United Kingdom in 1997. In Taiwan, the cultural and creative industry began receiving official attention in 2002, when the government included it in Challenge 2008, a six-year national development plan. The most notable result of that initial effort was the establishment of five creative and cultural parks in the cities of Taipei, Taichung, Chiayi, Tainan and Hualien. Each park was located on land previously occupied by the Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor Corp. to take advantage of the sites’ decommissioned warehouses.

The sector was boosted further after President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May 2008. An important part of President Ma’s campaign platform and a continuing focus of his administration are the i-Taiwan 12 Projects, which consist of 12 prioritized public projects designed to boost the island’s economic development. The cultural and creative industry is the focus of one of the projects.

In May 2009, the government also announced the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Plan, which will be implemented through 2013. That plan includes six flagship projects to develop television programs, films, pop music, handicrafts, digital content and product design. The GIO currently oversees the development of the first three areas, whereas the Council for Cultural Affairs (CCA) is responsible for the development of the handicrafts industry and the Industrial Development Bureau under the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) handles those falling in the latter two categories. The government expects the six flagship cultural and creative industry projects to generate a combined NT$1 trillion (US$33.3 billion) in production value and create 200,000 jobs through 2013.

Among the six projects under the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Plan, product design will see some of the earliest results when the International Design Alliance (IDA) Congress takes place in Taipei in October this year, thereby establishing Taipei as a venue for the international design community. The Taipei congress will be the first since the IDA was founded in 2007 by three international design societies in the areas of graphic design, industrial design and interior design. The MOEA and the Taipei City Government are co-organizers of the event.

According to the Industrial Development Bureau, NT$400 million (US$13.3 million) has been earmarked to hold the congress and related events including a young designers’ workshop, tours for designers of some of the sector’s major hubs on the island, and opportunities for delegates to interact with local designers. In total, the design show is estimated to attract 3,000 elite designers from 60 countries.

Major Milestone

To provide a legal basis for the Cultural and Creative Industries Development Plan, the Cultural and Creative Industry Development Act was promulgated in February 2010. In addition to the six flagship projects identified under the plan, the act covers nine other specific cultural and creative sectors including advertising and architectural design, as well as the management of performance and exhibition facilities. Chiu Cheng-sheng, deputy chief executive officer of the Taipei Culture Foundation (TCF), which is funded mainly by the Taipei City Government, sees the act as a major milestone in Taiwan’s effort to develop its cultural and creative industry. “It greatly improves preparedness for industries to develop in the field by creating a legal infrastructure,” he says. “The law designates the CCA as the government agency in charge of the sector and gives it the task of coordinating related government agencies, which is especially important.”

“Although the act covers more than 15 branches of the cultural and creative industry, they are often interconnected,” Chiu says. The TCF official points to the movie industry as an example, as films can also involve the music and animation industries in the production process. Moreover, if a movie becomes popular, it can go on to spawn derivatives such as online games and merchandise. “This phenomenon makes it urgent to have a single government agency in charge of the cultural and creative industry,” he says.

The CCA’s responsibility for guiding the cultural and creative industry will also become greater after a revision of the Organizational Act of the Executive Yuan takes effect on January 1, 2012. That move will upgrade the council into a ministry and see it take over the GIO’s current role in developing the television, film and pop music industries.

Lee Jen-fang, deputy minister of the CCA, believes that the Cultural and Creative Industry Development Act is noteworthy also because it serves to stimulate investment in the field. “In the past, Taiwan’s cultural and creative businesses were strong in spirit, but quite weak in terms of financial resources. But that situation is changing now,” Lee says of what he sees as one of the act’s biggest benefits for entrepreneurs in the sector.

Lee specifically refers to Article 9 of the act, which stipulates that a certain percentage of the ROC government’s National Development Fund should be set aside for investment in the cultural and creative industry. In November 2010, the National Development Fund made its first investment in the sector by purchasing a stake in the TC-1 Culture Fund, a private investment fund that was launched last year. TC-1 is backed by investments from heavyweight stakeholders such as John Hsuan, honorary vice president of United Microelectronics Corp., one of the world’s five biggest semiconductor foundries, and boasts advisers like playwright Stan Lai. After attracting total investment of NT$500 million (US$16.6 million), with NT$350 million (US$11.7 million) coming from the private sector and the remainder from the National Development Fund, TC-1 is mainly looking to back projects in the television and film industries.

As the government steps up its effort to boost the cultural and creative industry, more investors in the private sector are emerging. “Those with deep pockets were not familiar with the industry in the past, but are gradually paying more attention to this growing field,” the CCA’s Lee Jen-fang says.

Jane Wu is a CCA adviser and chief executive officer of TotalBrand Consulting, which has been building corporate identities for clients in various fields for 23 years. In a sense, Wu’s business reflects Taiwan’s trend toward developing the cultural and creative industry. “I worked with traditional manufacturers at first and then with the high-tech sector,” she says. “But for the past four years, it’s been the cultural and creative industry.”

Wu echoes Lee’s thoughts on increased investment interest in the industry. “People feel encouraged by the performances of businesses such as Franz Collection,” she says, referring to the Taiwan-based company that has made a name for itself worldwide since it began sales of high-end porcelain products at the end of 2001. “They think it’s worthwhile to invest in this area.”

In one of the biggest examples of the increasing private investment in cultural creative products, in February the privately owned Central Pictures Corp. announced plans to invest NT$350 million (US$11.7 million) in the production of Seediq Bale, a much-anticipated movie by Wei Te-sheng. Wei directed Cape No.7, which in 2008 became the highest-grossing movie made in Taiwan to date. Wei sold his house to raise money for Cape No.7, which was his first feature-length movie.

The effort to promote the cultural and creative industry has also seen recent progress outside the areas of legislation and investment. To encourage commercialization in the field, for example, the CCA launched a project to enhance cooperation between artists or designers and marketing experts in 2010. “These two parts of the industry should work together to maximize the commercial value of cultural products,” Deputy Minister Lee explains. To date, there have been eight cases in which the CCA has provided grants that have paid marketing firms to work with designers or artists. One of the grants enabled Jane Wu’s TotalBrand Consulting to work with Johan Ku, a promising fashion designer who has won several international awards.

Other marketing efforts targeting the cultural and creative sector include government-supported work to publicize Taiwanese businesses at industry exhibitions worldwide. Recent events include the China Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo and similar fairs in London, Tokyo and Shanghai, in addition to the first Taiwan International Cultural Creative Industry Expo held in Taipei in November 2010.

The TCF’s Chiu Cheng-sheng notes, however, that more should be done to market Taiwan’s cultural and creative products around the world. “The government also should organize small-scale groups of businesses in a specific sector and take them abroad to meet partners. The CCA should learn about this from the MOEA, which has been doing a good job in this regard,” he says, referring to the MOEA’s work with trade groups such as the Taiwan Textile Federation, which has been helping vendors in the textile sector meet with potential buyers for years.

As it happens, when the CCA begins to play a bigger role in promoting the development of the cultural and creative industry after it is upgraded to a full ministry at the beginning of 2012. There will be a number of schemes in place aimed at helping businesses in the sector to develop a strong foundation. For example, the Cultural and Creative Industry Development Act provides for the creation of a research center devoted to the sector. The CCA’s Cultural Creative Industry Development Office will likely form the basis of the research center, but the office, which opened in April 2010, currently has a staff of only about 10 employees, hindering its ability to carry out substantial research and development work.

Chiu is among those who believe there is a pressing need to establish a major think tank devoted to offering advice to businesses in the sector. “The MOEA has helped establish think tanks to support various industries such as the Industrial Technology Research Institute, which is crucial to Taiwan’s semiconductor industry,” Chiu says. “Isn’t there a need for a similar organization for Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry?”

Tuning in to TV

Television content is another part of the cultural and creative industry that is benefiting from increased government attention. The GIO, for example, is pushing for companies in Taiwan and mainland China to cooperate in the production of drama series. One reason to promote such cooperation is that, unlike dramas that are produced solely by Taiwanese companies, the mainland permits co-produced series to be broadcast between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m., or primetime. Co-productions are also exempted from mainland China’s quota system limiting the amount of foreign-made television series that may be imported annually.

The mainland market is a natural target for Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry, given its shared language and culture, as well as vast size. The importance of the mainland market is not lost on the government, which has made exploring it part of the Creative and Cultural Industries Development Plan. The plan aims to “stand firmly in Taiwan while exploring the mainland market as a stepping stone to the world.”

Members of the industry also see a uniquely important role for television series produced solely by companies in Taiwan: that of promoting the island’s culture abroad. Steven Lin, a Taiwan-based exporter and importer of drama series, says that television products have a higher penetration rate among the public than other parts of the cultural and creative field. “Pop culture is the beachhead of any culture war, and TV is the most influential part of pop culture,” he says.

The local television sector faces a number of challenges, however. Lin finds that locally written scripts for drama series often lack depth, compared with those from Japan, for example. “Most of ours are just not sophisticated enough,” he says. “For one thing, they tend to lack engaging details when the plot involves specific professional fields.”

Despite the challenges faced by individual segments of Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry, those involved in the sector are broadly optimistic about the future. Last year in her capacity as a CCA adviser, Jane Wu paid a visit to a woman named Paicu Tiaki’ana, an aboriginal artist, to offer advice on ways to boost sales of the artist’s handicrafts, which Wu believes are well above average in quality. “It’s a micro-business that consists of just one woman and her assistant. Her sales had been quite poor before because she hadn’t done much to illustrate the cultural value of her handicrafts,” she says. In the end, Wu designed and produced signs for the shop free of charge in order to tell the artist’s story and explain the meaning of her designs. “Her business is getting better now,” Wu says.

The CCA adviser says she was motivated to lend her support after seeing the artist’s passion for her craft. “Many cultural and creative businesses still need help before they can be really strong,” Wu says. While the same could be said of the sector as a whole, Wu has confidence that Taiwan’s artists and designers possess the creativity and energy needed to succeed in the global market. Playwright Stan Lai and fashion designer Johan Ku have already done so, and there are many other artists and craftspeople like Paicu who, with a little bit of assistance, could very well follow in their footsteps.

A Cauldron of Creativity

According to the CCA’s 2009 annual report, around 60 percent of the total revenue of NT$590 billion (US$18.7 billion) generated in 2008 by Taiwan’s cultural and creative industry was created in Taipei City, followed by Taipei County (which was renamed New Taipei City in 2010), and then by Taichung City in central Taiwan. A deeper look into the CCA’s numbers shows that Taipei City earned the lion’s share of revenues despite being home to only about 29 percent of the total of 49,400 businesses in the sector in Taiwan, indicating that the players in Taipei City are larger than those concentrated elsewhere on the island.

The cultural and creative industry got a head start in Taipei City, largely because it is the ROC’s capital and also the island’s most developed urban center. Indeed, of the five culture and creative parks administered by the CCA that are scattered around Taiwan, the Huashan Culture Park in downtown Taipei was the earliest to open. Since it began operating at the end of 2005 on the site of a decommissioned winery, Huashan has become a prominent venue for exhibitions and performances as well as an outlet for sales of cultural and creative merchandise.

The TCF has been playing a major role in creating a favorable environment for the industry by managing some of the major exhibition and performance facilities in the city. In 2007, the foundation began operating the Red House, a renovated historic building in the downtown area that includes the Creative Boutique as well as a café, space for art exhibitions and a theater. The boutique currently consists of 17 shops that sell cultural and creative products and generated NT$8.2 million (US$273,000) in revenue in the first nine months of 2010, posting a 40 percent increase over the same period of 2009.

“In the beginning, the shops were open only on weekends, but one year later they were operating every day of the week. Today, some of the shop owners have opened outlets outside the Red House,” the TCF’s Chiu Cheng-sheng says of the Red House’s role as an incubation center for the cultural and creative industry.

In 2007, the TCF also began leading delegations of Taiwanese businesses in the field to attend the China Beijing International Cultural and Creative Industry Expo. According to the foundation, 14 Taiwanese enterprises made deals that first year at the annual mainland event worth NT$3 million (US$91,350), with the figures rising to 127 enterprises that brought in NT$750 million (US$23.7 million) in 2010. In 2008, the TCF also organized the first Taipei Fringe Festival, which features experimental performances and installation art in nontraditional venues similar to those found at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and its many counterparts around the world.

Since 2004, the TCF has also been managing the Taipei Artist Village, which was established by the Taipei City Government’s Department of Cultural Affairs in 2001 to facilitate exchanges between local and international artists. Grass Mountain Artist Village and Treasure Hill Artist Village were also established in Taipei in 2008 and 2010 respectively. The TCF continues to manage Treasure Hill, but stopped managing Grass Mountain this year. By the end of 2010, 253 artists-in-residence from 44 countries had stayed in the three venues, while 108 Taiwanese artists had traveled to 32 cities around the world on subsidies provided by the city’s Department of Cultural Affairs.

Film also plays a prominent role in Taipei City’s cultural and creative industry. Since 2007, the TCF has been organizing the annual Taipei Film Festival, which was first held in 1998. In August 2008, the Taipei Film Commission was founded under the TCF with the task of encouraging the production of full-length movies, short films, TV dramas, music videos and advertisements in the city. The commission carries out its tasks by offering subsidies and assistance such as securing approval to use public spaces. By the end of February this year, 489 works had been filmed or were being shot with help from the commission, including 57 full-length movies made by local companies and 56 co-produced with international partners. A prime example of the commission’s influence—as well as that of the city’s cultural and creative environment—is the box-office success of Monga, the highest-grossing locally made movie in Taiwan in 2010. Monga, which tells the story of a group of gangsters in Taipei’s Wanhua District in the 1980s, received a NT$4 million (US$126,400) grant from the city, as well as marketing support and help with large-scale street closings. The city’s support for Monga paid off, as the movie went on to earn NT$270 million (US$8.5 million) in Taiwan.

—Oscar Chung

Write to Oscar Chung at oscar@mail.gio.gov.tw