Tainan’s initiative to recruit digital nomads has resulted in several German, US and Vietnamese nationals applying to live and work in the city, the Tainan Research, Development and Evaluation Commission said yesterday.
That marked the city as the first in the nation to attract digital nomads, following the launch of the program last month, it said.
Although all applicants so far have used work visas or tourism visas instead of the special digital nomad permit from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the city government believes that the latter would be needed eventually, the commission said.
Photo courtesy of the Tainan City Government
The digital nomads recruited by Tainan would work at the Yu Ai Public Retail Market in the city’s West Central District (中西區), a focal point of a regional revitalization project aimed at boosting the area’s economy, it said.
The market is at the city’s prime tourism area and serves as a connecting point to several historic sites, the commission added.
The city government plans to hold cultural exchange programs to facilitate interactions between local and foreign talents, and grow the workforce, it said.
More than 60 start-ups have moved to the Yu Ai market since it was designated as a regional revitalization project area, including companies that are involved in digital work, engineering, art and community-based childrearing, the commission said.
The area is expected to host hackathons, workshops and seminars to encourage the local economy to innovate business models, make greater use of technology and form international connections, it added.
Little Village Together, one of the start-ups at the market, is an initiative that aims to help young professionals raise children and stay in the workforce via community-based childrearing arrangements, the commission said.
Other initiatives include shared workspace for people who do digital work, content creation and communal kitchens, it added.
The city government would begin promoting efforts to train talents in tech and digital industries by using the Yu Ai market as a base of operations, the commission said.
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