With the reopening of Taiwan’s borders, in order to encourage the MICE industry to organize or strengthen “new exhibitions” in Taiwan, and also to enhance the international reputation of Taiwan’s exhibition industry, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has increased its subsidy funding per single project to NT$2 million next year, which is NT$400,000 to 500,000 higher than before.

After the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic in 2020, the MICE industry suffered heavy losses due to the border closure. The Bureau of Foreign Trade, MOEA, continues to entrust the Taiwan External Trade Development Council(TAITRA) to implement the “Counseling MICE industry to hold new exhibitions in Taiwan”program. The Bureau pointed out that next year’s total funding of $10.8 million is less than this year, mainly in consideration of the reopening of the boarder, so international buyers can enter our country normally. The funding has returned to the previous level, but the grant ceiling for a single case has been increased from NT$1.5 million or NT$1.6 million to a maximum of NT$2 million. According to the Bureau, the conditions of the exhibition to be applied for must be held in the next year, and the exhibition has been held in Taiwan for less than five sessions only, and the number of subsidies received cannot exceed three times.

The Bureau explained that since new exhibitions are usually small in scale or have been held once or twice with good results, they can be applied for again. There are no special restrictions on the type of exhibition, including physical exhibitions, or a combination of physical and online exhibitions.

In addition, because we also want to improve the international reputation of our exhibition industry, the number of participating countries and regions is also regulated. If the exhibition is co-organized with TAITRA, the number of foreign exhibitors must be at least 5% of the total number of exhibitors, or come from more than 5 countries. To maximize the benefits of our resources, we limit the number of applications to a maximum of two for the same applicant. If they received other grants, such as next year’s program, they would have to choose one to give up.

The funds can be used for venue rental, public area set-up, printing costs, shipping costs, website development costs for online exhibitions, and international promotional videos production.

The application date was only until the end of November, the Bureau said. Because the application for the new exhibition program has been in place for many years, exhibitors are familiar with the relevant rules, the number of applications in the past are more than the number accepted, the type of exhibition is not limited, there have been industrial, cultural, and artistic types, as long as they meet the specifications, they can apply.

As for the impact of the epidemic, MOEA will provide $NT1.1 million to $NT2 million for local exhibitions, and $NT2.2 million to $NT5 million for international exhibitions this year. The application for economic relief packages has been closed and is being finalized. Next year, due to the reopening of the border, there will be no further relief package for the time being.

Source: Liberty Times