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Cebu chosen as RP hub for creative industries


CEBU CITY, Philippines — For producing renowned entrepreneurs such as Kenneth Cobonpue and Monique Lhuillier, Cebu was chosen as the creative hub for the Philippines as part of the United Kingdom’s thrust to such centers in East Asia. The British Council chose Cebu from a list that included the cities of Manila, Silay, Vigan, Liliw, Paete, and Davao. Cebu is the second leg of the council’s Creative Cities tour in Southeast Asia. The first was in Bandung, Indonesia early this year. "Cebu was chosen as a creative hub for the Philippines because of its internationally prominent creative entrepreneurs or icons such as Kenneth Cobonpue and Monique Lhuillier. Aside from that, Cebu is really poised for it given our history of successes in the arts," said Jay P. Aldeguer, Young Creative Entrepreneur awardee of the council and a member of the core group that is forming the Creative Entrepreneurs Network. Under the Creative Cebu program, the British Council, through the core group, will help the province develop its creative industries, which range from visual and performing arts to furniture, jewelry, as well as Web graphic designs. Aside from Mr. Aldeguer, other members of the core group are television host Daphne Oseña-Paez representing media, Dean Gerard Torres of St. Benilde College of De La Salle for the academe, as well as Trade and Industry Cebu provincial director Nelia Navarro, who represents government. The program will officially kick off in March next year with a week long Design Festival that would gather local and international creative entrepreneurs from the United Kingdom, China, and Southeast Asia. More than 60 delegates are expected to arrive. The event, Mr. Aldeguer added, will also allow Cebu to showcase what it can offer and build business opportunities. Ms. Oseña-Paez, who is also a jewelry designer, has started promoting the Creative Cebu program through her late night Sunday home and interior design magazine show, Urban Zone. The show will feature homes and interior designers in Cebu for the whole month of November. Around 450 creative entrepreneurs are expected to join the Creative Entrepreneurs Network. Mr. Aldeguer said a creative entrepreneur is not limited to artists. He said businessmen involved in a creative industry can take part in the network and the program. The network will be exclusive to established artists or companies. In fact, Creative Cebu is targeting to attract upstart companies. The creative industry may include those in publishing, painting, Web and games development, animation, among others. "We’re also trying to take away the stigma of striving artists and help them register and market their business or even art. I believe art can be more effective if shared to a lot of people and if expressed fully through a sustainable vehicle or enterprise set up," Mr. Aldeguer added. The value of a creative economy is still unquantifiable, but it has been a driving force of all industries, where creativity is considered a unique advantage, he said. The Creative Cities program kicked off with a trip to the UK last March where representatives from each participating East Asian economy were selected. These country representatives saw first hand how neighborhoods that were once neglected experienced economic regeneration when creative industry businesses opened like art galleries and fashion boutiques, including the mounting of design festivals that attracted creative entrepreneurs to settle there. The representatives were then tasked in turn to identify a hub for creative industries in their respective countries. — Regina T. Aguilar, BusinessWorld
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