Council of Hakka Affairs Minister Li Yongde inspects the creation of Hakka cultural living environments in Taitung

Li Yongde, Minister of the Council of Hakka Affairs, yesterday (the 2nd) went to several key Hakka cultural development areas including Taitung, Guanshan, and Luye to inspect the progress of the creation of Hakka cultural living environments currently being promoted in these townships. Minister Li Yongde stated that Taitung has uniquely advantaged tourism resources of fine mountains and waters, and expressed the hope that through the "Happy Provincial Highway 9 Project" Taitung's Hakka village attraction resources can be integrated and linked, driving local revitalization, making Taitung a highlight of Hakka villages in the east and also a highlight of Taiwan tourism.

On the morning of the 2nd, Minister Li Yongde, together with accompanying personnel from the Taitung County Government and experts and scholars, went to the "Rice Country School" created by the Leisure Tourism Center of the Guanshan Township Farmers' Association in Taitung County to attend the 108th year "Hakka Cultural Life and Industrial Environment Creation" proposal plan symposium. Minister Li Yongde stated that the Council of Hakka Affairs will absolutely fully support local governments in developing Hakka village industries, but after completing hardware construction local governments need complete supporting measures for sustainable operation rather than relying on subsidies to operate. Minister Li Yongde suggested referring in many ways to the concept of "local revitalization" promoted by the Executive Yuan in recent years, and cited the successful Taitung local revitalization case "Rice Country School," which closely combines local humanities and industry and successfully maximizes output value.

Finally, in the afternoon Minister Li Yongde went to the Taitung City Hakka Academy to inspect on site the "Taitung Hakka Academy Phase III Project." He promised that the Council of Hakka Affairs will certainly fully assist the revival of Taitung's Hakka village industries through "Happy Provincial Highway 9," but subsidy plans are absolutely not purely "subsidies" but "investments." He expressed the hope that after driving the overall creation of local Hakka villages, it can attract talent to return to Hakka villages, further attract Hakka younger generations to return home for employment, and enable the Hakka cultural industry to revive and be sustainably passed on.