RP promotes creative industries to take advantage of global trend

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines is set to promote its creative industries—which include fashion and audio-visual design—to nurture the sector that comprises nearly five percent of the economy and employs more than 10 percent of the labor force. Local creative industries—covering entities involved in industrial design, multimedia, handicrafts, culinary and performing arts—will be given emphasis in activities undertaken by the Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (Citem) this year. Citem, which promotes Philippine exports, will launch its international campaign for the creative industry at the e-Services Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition on February 9 and 10 in Manila. The agency, which is subsumed under the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), is also encouraging small businesses to develop creative content and participate in the e-Services Awards 2009, an annual competition for innovators in information and communication technology (ICT) and business process outsourcing (BPO). These efforts aim to take advantage of the worldwide trend in which companies enhance their intellectual property (IP) value chain, Ma. Lourdes D. Mediran, officer-in-charge of Citem, said. “The Philippine creative industry cuts across all creative, high-value, intellectual property industries such as ICT [information and communications technology] and design to name a few. We recognize the strategic importance of helping the small players in the creative industry sector in creating more jobs for the country," she said. Creative industries “have their origin in individual creativity, skills, and talent and which have a potential for wealth creation and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property," Citem said. The Philippines’ creative industries contributed 4.92 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employed 11.1 percent of the labor force in 2005, according to a United Nations Development Program report. Besides being considered as the second-largest exporter of wicker ware among developing countries, the Philippines was also identified as the fifth-largest in sculpture exports. Wicker ware and sculpture products sold abroad contributed $95 and $102 million to the country’s export receipts. The Philippines was also included in a list of the top 10 exporters of visual arts among developing countries in 2005. It exported some $107 million worth of goods in 2005. - GMANews.TV