The NSP Film Festival wrapped up Oct. 30 at SPOT-Huashan cinema in Taipei City, underscoring the government’s commitment to strengthening cultural exchanges with New Southbound Policy target countries, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Oct. 31.
Organized by the MOFA, the three-day event comprised 12 screenings of “Listen Before You Sing” from Taiwan, “Chhichhore” from India, “Homestay” from Thailand, “The Road Less Traveled” from Indonesia and “The Songs We Sang” from Singapore, as well as Taiwan-directed adaptation of Malaysian novel of the same name “The Garden of Evening Mists.”
This was the first time the MOFA staged an NSP-themed film festival, the ministry said, adding that the event attracted over 1,000 attendees, spotlighting the high interest in regional cultures among the people of Taiwan.
According to the MOFA, since the NSP was launched in 2016, significant achievements have been made in areas ranging from fisheries to medical care. People-to-people exchanges are on the rise, the MOFA said, citing Vice Foreign Minister Alexander Tah-ray Yui’s remarks during the event’s opening ceremony stating that a total of 2.77 million tourists from NSP target countries visited Taiwan in 2019 while the number of migrant workers exceeded 690,000.
The government is committed to strengthening public- and private-sector cooperation with NSP target countries going forward, the MOFA added.
A key plank in the government’s national development strategy, the NSP seeks to deepen Taiwan’s agricultural, business, cultural, education, tourism and trade ties with the 10 Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, six South Asian countries, Australia and New Zealand. (YCH-E)
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