Taipei, March 27 (CNA) Taiwan faces an opportune moment to promote original “T-Content” (Taiwan Content) internationally, but if it fails to seize the moment, the term could come to refer to Thai productions instead, Culture Minister Shih Che (史哲) said Tuesday.
The minister made the comments while outlining challenges facing “T-Content” in the form of Taiwan’s film industry and over-the-top (OTT) content creators.
In the past, foreign nationals often mixed up Taiwan and Thailand, but in recent years, Taiwan has increasingly established its own distinct identity as a technology powerhouse, Shih said in a speech at an event in Taipei attended by local and international journalists.
This provides Taiwan with an ideal backdrop against which to promote original “T-Content” because the world needs Taiwan, and many countries support Taiwan in the international community, he added.
However, if Taiwan neglects to take advantage of the moment, “T-Content” will come to refer to Thai movies and TV shows instead of Taiwanese productions, the minister said.
This is because Thai filmmakers clearly know their strengths, which are makeup for horror films and sound effects, he explained.
Shih also cautioned that Taiwan seems to lack definitive cultural exports other than boba tea, despite Taiwanese often saying the country has many stories to tell the world.
Noting that the United Kingdom featured rock music and James Bond at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics and Japan Nintendo characters for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, he asked the audience what Taiwan would feature at its opening ceremony if one day it hosted the Olympics.
Commenting on the importance of technology in disseminating OTT content, Shih said that in the future headgear such as Apple’s Vision Pro might be the dominant viewing platform, and Taiwanese content creators should be aware of this so they can stay ahead of the curve rather than being one step behind the latest trend playing catchup.
Tags: Time opportune promote Taiwan content globally Minister
