Department of Sports, Taipei City Government

Mayor Ko Wen-je attended the award ceremony following the finals of the 2016 TPC Taipei Cup eSports Competition at Syntrend in the evening of November 20.
During his address, he noted that the eSports population in Taiwan amounts to roughly 7.6 million. Not only is Taipei City the municipality with the highest concentration of Taiwan’s entertainment industry, it is also the city with a population who spend the most time on watching e-sport events on the planet. The city boasts a comprehensive infrastructure spanning hardware, software, consumers, and eSports organizations.
The mayor stressed that his attitude towards the development of eSports has always been “private sector leads, government supports.” Rather than having the government act, the question should be what the eSports industry needs to fuel development and what obstacles that would require the help from the public sector to overcome.
Having watched an event last month at Y17 Youth Center, Ko remarked that eSports has a meaning in terms of driving social changes. He also pointed out that the city government has done many things to help promote eSports competitions and support innovative eSports companies.
Ko believes that Taiwan has access to many elements in the eSports realm, and the only thing lacking is to integrate all these factors together. However, he believes that game content needs further strengthening. He hopes that the industry can let the city government know how it could help to make them develop and flourish.
At the end of his talk, Ko cited both the famous Hanshan-Shide Zen conversation and the Japanese artisan culture to encourage the participants to give whatever they are doing their utmost effort, aiming to become the best in the world.