The Ministry of Culture and the Taiwan Creative Content Agency yesterday launched a NT$10 billion (US$342.28 million) loan scheme with 10 participating banks to assist entrepreneurs aged 20 to 45 in the cultural and creative industries.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) has introduced a policy to make available NT$60 billion in loans to help young people start businesses after the outbreak of COVID-19, Minister of Culture Lee Yung-te (李永得) told a news conference in Taipei.
Local banks used to be relatively unfamiliar with loans for cultural and creative businesses, and likewise, cultural and creative businesses are relatively inexperienced in working with banks, Lee said.
Photo: CNA
For this reason, the ministry asked the Executive Yuan to dedicate NT$10 billion of the NT$60 billion in loans to cultural and creative businesses, he said.
Cultural and creative businesses less than five years old and headed by people aged 20 to 45 can apply for the loans, the ministry said.
Applicants must have taken 20 hours of entrepreneurship courses, either in person or online, it said.
Entrepreneurs in the performing arts, bookstore, crafts, fashion design, animation, music, board game, illustration, magazine, curation, gallery and image licensing sectors, as well as up-and-coming YouTube and podcast creators, are among those who are eligible to apply, the ministry said.
The program offers various kinds of loans — such as up to NT$2 million for “start-up reserves” for businesses in their first eight months, or up to NT$12 million for capital expenditures — for which the government would provide credit guarantees of 80 to 95 percent, it said.
The credit guarantee is provided by the Small & Medium Enterprise Credit Guarantee Fund of Taiwan, it said.
For loans of less than NT$1 million, interest would be fully subsidized for five years, it added.
Participating banks are Bank of Taiwan, Chang Hwa Bank, Taiwan Business Bank, Land Bank of Taiwan, Mega International Commercial Bank, First Bank, Taiwan Cooperative Bank, Hua Nan Bank, Taipei Fubon Bank and Taichung Bank, the ministry said.
The ministry is to hold seminars nationwide to explain the loan scheme in detail, it said.
It has also set up a Web page with information about the program, including application forms, it added.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
Myanmar has turned down an offer of assistance from Taiwanese search-and-rescue teams after a magnitude 7.7 earthquake struck the nation on Friday last week, saying other international aid is sufficient, the National Fire Agency said yesterday. More than 1,700 have been killed and 3,400 injured in the quake that struck near the central Myanmar city of Mandalay early on Friday afternoon, followed minutes later by a magnitude 6.7 aftershock. Worldwide, 13 international search-and-rescue teams have been deployed, with another 13 teams mobilizing, the agency said. Taiwan’s search-and-rescue teams were on standby, but have since been told to stand down, as
RSS