The Ministry of Culture is to issue a separate stimulus voucher to stimulate the arts and culture industries, which have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) said that the ministry is to issue separate vouchers, as the Executive Yuan’s Triple Stimulus Voucher program would not feed into culture and arts without government policies to lead the way.
The ministry’s vouchers are expected to add NT$5 billion (US$168.16 million) to the industries, with more than 10,000 businesses to benefit, Lee said.
Photo: Ling Mei-hsueh, Taipei Times
Two million vouchers of NT$600 each are to be issued and would be redeemable via a mobile application, Lee said, adding that they would be valid from July 22 through the end of this year.
Every Republic of China citizen and foreign spouse with an Alien Resident Certificate would be eligible for the ministry’s vouchers, with a limit of one per person, Department of Cultural and Creative Development Businesses Director Chen Yue-yi (陳悅宜) said.
Culture and exhibition halls, concert halls, bookstores and record stores, movie theaters, and prepurchased tickets to cultural and arts events are the four main ways the vouchers can be used, Lee said.
Expenses for the ministry’s vouchers are estimated at NT$1.2 billion, Lee said.
Businesses would need to register to be able to accept the vouchers and once approved, could start using a separate app to log payments made with them, Lee said, adding that businesses would be refunded weekly for the vouchers they accept.
The ministry would prepare a special budget for elderly people and children, as the vouchers might not be accessible to them, as they are to be redeemed on mobile devices, he said.
The ministry is to hold eight sessions nationwide to explain the program, Chen said, adding that the mobile app would provide information on where the vouchers can be used.
The ministry would try to release the mobile app by July 22, she said.
Premier Su Tseng-chang (蘇貞昌) has instructed that voucher programs observe the basic tenets of the Triple Stimulus Vouchers: “Easy to get, easy to use and facilitating economic stimulation,” Executive Yuan spokesman Ting Yi-ming (丁怡銘) said.
Paper Windmill Educational Foundation executive director Lee Yung-feng (李永豐) said that he supports the ministry’s program, adding that the vouchers would make up for the lack of people attending performances.
Separately, Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Chi Wen-chung (祁文中) said that his ministry’s subsidy program was aimed at encouraging people to travel.
The program hopes to change the habit of independent trips and encourage group tours, Chi said.
A stimulus program has not been planned for international travel, but the transport ministry is mulling whether a relief program is needed to help travel agencies, he said.
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