The Taipei City Government yesterday launched an event to seek local and international sponsors for the 2017 Summer Universiade, with Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) saying that the international sports event would create a win-win situation that helps boost the nation’s and local enterprises’ profiles in the international community.
Speaking at a press conference at the Regent Hotel Taipei, Ko said that the Universiade is second only to the Olympic Games and is set to be the largest sporting event the nation has ever hosted.
He said that a sports event is a “universal language” that knows no boundaries or genders, and that collaboration between the government and private sector is crucial to establishing a communication platform.
“There is only so much a government can do, but there are no limits to what the public can achieve. With the help of sponsors, we hope to create a win-win situation by which we can promote Taiwan and its enterprises to the international community,” Ko said.
The event has a budget of about NT$17.3 billion (US$528.57 million), of which the city government hopes to obtain NT$2 billion from sponsors.
Taipei Universiade Organizing Committee official Huang Lo-ning (黃珞寧) said sponsors will be classified into four groups according to the size of their contributions, which have a lower limit of NT$10 million.
Top sponsors who contribute NT$50 million, or resources of equivalent value, will have the right to develop special Universiade merchandise and market them during the Games, while those who contribute up to NT$100 million will be granted the right to advertise in the city’s mass rapid transit (MRT) system and purchase full-page advertisements in the event’s brochures.
All sponsors will have access to the event’s promotional tools, including a logo, mascot and slogan.
Taipei Department of Economic Development Commissioner Lin Chung-chieh (林崇傑) said the Games are set to be held at 61 venues across Taipei, New Taipei City and Taoyuan.
The event, which is scheduled to launch in August 2017, is set to span two weeks, and is expected to sell up to 780,000 tickets in addition to attracting 150,000 tourists, Lin said, adding that it would be broadcast to an audience of about 3 billion people.
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