Ministry of Culture
Laws and Regulations Retrieving System

1. The Ministry of Culture (hereinafter referred to as “the Ministry”) has drafted these Guidelines and Procedures to encourage foreign arts and cultural institutions and groups to establish collaborative ties with the Ministry’s overseas offices, promote and sponsor diverse Taiwan-themed arts and cultural exchange programs that can be transferred seamlessly onto the international stage, help Taiwan arts and culture become more in line with international standards, and assist Taiwan-based cultural and creative industries in entering overseas markets.
   
    

2. Applicant Eligibility: Foreign legal entities, public and private arts or educational institutions, or civic groups or associations registered in accordance with the law of their country of origin are eligible to apply, as well as all organizations approved by the Ministry and listed by an overseas office as a collaborative partner in its annual work plan.
   
    

3. Project Eligibility:Overseas exchanges and collaboration projects relating to the curation of Taiwanese audiovisual productions and the research and promotion of cultural relics may encompass areas such as performance and visual arts, films, television, music, literature and publishing, history, crafts, cultural heritage, community empowerment, or a cross-disciplinary combination of these fields.

The aforementioned promotion and exchange activities may take the following forms: artistic and cultural performances, exhibitions, themed film festivals, academic courses, forums, workshops, diverse programs such as Taiwan Month or Taiwan Week, talent training exchanges, and professional (industrial) cooperation.

 

4. Funding Principles & Qualifications

1. The applicant shall apply to one of the Ministry’s overseas offices, and proposals that include a self-financing plan will be given priority consideration.

2. For general project proposals, the maximum funding available is US$10,000.

3. If the applicant has acute artistic acumen, or if the proposed project has great potential in integrating available resources with sustainable collaboration, or help boost the nation’s visibility among international cultural organizations, or connect and promote Taiwanese arts and culture in overseas markets, the maximum funding available is US$50,000.

4. If the application project is policy-oriented, professional and forward-looking, and highlights the cultural subjectivity of Taiwan, and support is needed because of its potential contributions to international cultural exchange, the amount will not be subject to the maximum funding available as prescribed in the preceding two paragraphs and will instead be evaluated by one of the Ministry’s overseas offices in accordance with its comprehensive expected benefits.

5. The subsidy shall be used to cover curatorial fees, performance fees, production costs, registration fees, plane tickets, accommodation, publicity and promotion, transportation fees, insurance, translation fees, equipment leasing, transportation of art, venue rental, and the cost of other related items approved by the collaborating overseas office of the Ministry.

Reoccurring personnel costs, as well as ongoing expenditures regarding office/building and equipment usage, are not eligible for reimbursement.

 

5. Application process:

The applicant shall submit the following applications and documentation when applying at one of the Ministry’s overseas offices, at a date no later than three months before the implementation of the proposed project. All documents shall be submitted in traditional Chinese or English:

1. Application form (see Appendix 1).

2. Proposal (Appendix 2), which shall include the project’s concept, implementation methods (including schedule and quality control), marketing plan, and key performance indicators to measure expected benefits.

3. Budget (Appendix 3): if the same project has filed for subsidies from two or more Republic of China (Taiwan) government agencies, the applicant shall list full funding details and the items and amount received from each agency.

4. Relevant documents stipulated by Article 2.
   
    

6. Review process:

1. The Ministry’s overseas offices shall conduct a written review of each applicant’s qualifications, submitted documents, and project proposal, and evaluate whether the application is incomplete. The Ministry shall notify each applicant of the chance to remedy what was not in compliance with the regulations stipulated by Article 2 or Article 5 within a time limit. There will only be one chance to make corrections, and the applicant shall not be accepted if corrections are overdue or if the application remains incomplete.

2. The Ministry’s overseas offices shall invite relevant scholars and experts to form review committees and evaluate applications that have passed written review as outlined in the preceding paragraph. Each committee shall conduct a second review regarding the proposal’s specificity, the proportion of self-raised funds and feasibility of the budget, and the applicant’s professional capability in the arts, execution ability, and potential publicity assistance rendered. Each committee will also recommend a subsidy amount; the minutes of the review committee meeting, recommended amount of funds, and project proposal shall then be submitted to the Ministry for approval.

3. The Ministry’s overseas offices may make regular panelist adjustments to the review committees, and when inviting relevant scholars and experts to participate in such reviews, solicit a letter of consent from each committee member indicating that he/she agrees that his/her name together with the list of other committee members will be made public after the review committee meeting is concluded and the minutes of the review committee meeting are approved by the Ministry.

4. The applicants will be appraised in accordance with regulations stipulated by Article 2 and the outcome of their reviews (including recipient of funds, name of project, and the subsidy amount approved by the Ministry) and the list of committee members shall be made public on the Ministry’s grants information website (https://grantsmoc.gov.tw/Web/) after the review committee meeting minutes are submitted by the Ministry’s overseas offices and approved by the Ministry.
   
    

7. Remittances and Audits:

1. After the review results and the recommended subsidy amounts are approved by the Ministry, the Ministry’s overseas offices shall notify the qualified applicants in writing and request the applicants to sign a contract with one of the Ministry’s overseas offices authorized to handle such affairs within a stated time limit. The Ministry may revoke the eligibility of those who fail to sign a contract within the specified timeframe.

2. The subsidy is allocated in two installments and, in principle, the amount of the first installment shall not exceed 60% of the total funding. But depending on the nature of the proposed project, funds can be remitted in one payment following the conclusion of the project and the audit of listed expenditures.

3. The funds will be remitted by the Ministry to the accounts of the Ministry’s overseas offices and then transferred by the Ministry’s overseas personnel to subsidy recipients.

4. If the execution of the proposed project has to be deferred because of force majeure, or reasons not attributable to the subsidy recipient, after the application is approved by the Ministry, the recipient shall write a letter explaining the reason (or emergency) and apply as soon as possible to the collaborating overseas office for deferment.

The projected execution period can only be changed after a written request is submitted by an overseas office and approved by the Ministry; a deferment request will only be accepted once.

5. Unless agreed in writing by the Ministry or otherwise stipulated in the contract, the recipient should conclude the project, submit all documentation for audit, and request reimbursement from the collaborating overseas office, attached with receipts, original expenditure vouchers, income and expenditure statements, a final implementation report (see Appendix 4), and other relevant information – all within 30 days of the project’s end date as agreed upon with the Ministry. (However, for a project scheduled to take place at the yearend, this process must be completed before November 15 of that year.)

If a recipient fails to submit proper documentation in accordance with these Guidelines and Regulations, the Ministry may revoke his/her eligibility for subsidization and terminate the contract. If revoked after receiving the first installment, the recipient should return all reimbursement within a time limit specified by the Ministry.

6. Audits shall be performed in according to domestic regulations, including “ROC Management Guidelines for the Disposal of Expenditure Voucher.” If the collaborating overseas office of the Ministry believes that there is cause for circumstantial treatment, in which the recipient may have difficulty submitting expenditure vouchers or if the outcome of the project may be inconsistent with expected benefits, the overseas office shall submit a request to the Ministry detailing the challenges and a solution. If the request is approved by the Ministry, the contract shall be amended to stipulate a different method of audit.

7. Upon the project’s end date, if the actual expenditures total less than the original budget, all outstanding funds shall be remitted to the Ministry within 30 days.
   
    

8. Additional Rights and Duties:

1. Where a recipient is found to have poorly implemented the project, wrongfully applied funds, or concealed or falsified expenditures, the Ministry shall either suspend funding, cancel funding, or recover all previous remittances, depending upon the severity of the offense.

2. All promotional materials distributed by the recipient and his/her partner(s) in the subsidized project shall carry the full name or logo of the Ministry of Culture, Republic of China (Taiwan) and the collaborating overseas office.

3. Upon completion of the project, the recipient shall provide a detailed breakdown of expenditure items and the total amount of all actual expenditures incurred by the project. In the case of concealed or falsified information, the Ministry will cancel its funding and recover previous remittances; such recipients shall not be eligible for similar subsidies from the Ministry for the next three years.

4. When a recipient applies for reimbursement, he/she shall be held responsible for the authenticity of his/her report based on the principle of good faith; in the case of concealed or falsified information, the recipient will be hold accountable.

5. The recipient shall notify in writing to the Ministry’s overseas office if he/she decides to withdraw from the subsidy program; the Ministry shall ask for a partion or all of the remitted funds, of which the ratio will be determined by the rate of project’s completion.

6. Where changes are deemed necessary, a written explanation detailing the changes and remedial measures shall be submitted directly to the collaborating overseas office. The request must be supported by relevant documents and amendments to the project can only be made upon approval from the Ministry.

7. In the case where a project’s completion ends in a cash surplus, the recipient shall remit the remaining balance (including derivative income generated from the subsidy money) to the Ministry according to the original funding ratio; the remitted funds shall not exceed the sum of the original subsidy agreement.

8. Any dispute arising from, or in connection with, projects subsidized by this program that cannot not resolved by mutual agreement of the parties shall be resolved in the jurisdiction courts of the nation (state) in which the collaborating overseas office of the Ministry is based. Lawsuits should be resolved with the law of the Republic of China (Taiwan) serving as the applicable law.

9. If funding from the Ministry accounts for more than half of the total cost of the proposed project and the subsidized amount exceeds NT$1 million, the project shall be subjected to the regulations of Article 4 of the ROC Government Procurement Act and implemented under the supervision of the Ministry.
   
   
   
   The Ministry shall provide an explanation where doubts arise, or where there is lack of clarity, concerning these Guidelines and Procedures.