The ROC government has approved two plans aimed at promoting Taiwan’s digital content industry, according to the Cabinet-level Council for Economic Planning and Development Aug. 17.
The CEPD sees the programs, which were approved in July, as playing an integral role in expanding Taiwan’s digital development. “This is vital to the nation going forward as it indicates global strength in the knowledge economy,” the council said in a media release.
The Content Development Plan seeks to make Taiwan a new model for the digital economy, as well as a global leader in innovative entertainment and multimedia applications. The four-year program will begin this year.
CEPD forecasts have the plan realizing NT$100 billion (US$3.13 billion) in private investment and NT$14 billion in overseas joint ventures. This will create 31,500 new jobs and output of NT$780 billion by 2013.
The Convergence Development Plan aims to create a favorable environment for improving Taiwan’s broadband network infrastructure and service quality.
Also commencing this year, the six-year program will see 70 percent of the country’s residents enjoying reasonably priced, high-speed, high-quality broadband services by 2015. Around 2 million households are anticipated as eventually having access to wireless broadband services.
According to the CEPD, Taiwan’s digital content sector averaged annual growth of 16 percent between 2003 and 2009, with output surging from NT$189.2 billion to NT$460.3 billion.
During this six-year period, sector exports increased from NT$10 billion to NT$35 billion, while the number of workers doubled to 76,500.
In 2009, the output of Taiwan’s digital publishing sector skyrocketed 371.67 percent to NT$28.3 billion year-on-year, thanks to the popularity of electronic readers.
The digital gaming sector also generated NT$35.4 billion in revenues in 2009—a 25-percent gain from the year before—on the back of strong sales in Japan, Southeast Asian countries and mainland China.
