Best practices in steering cultural, creative industries
Countries that have embedded their culture into their broader national strategies not only provided necessary budget allocations for the creative industries, but they also had dedicated offices in the most senior offices to oversee the progress of these industries.
This column has been reviewing the country’s creative economy, emphasizing the sector’s potential, its challenges and viable solutions, and the role of technology in this critical but untapped sector.
Today’s piece will focus on best practices and working models from across the world. Let’s start with a recap of some important facts about this industry.
According to UNCTAD, the cultural and creative industries (CCI) account for 3.1 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP) and provide 6.2 per cent of all employment globally, producing nearly 50 million jobs worldwide. This sector is a major employer of women and youth, providing jobs to more people in the 15-29 age bracket than other sectors.
So, how do we as a country promote the creative economy? A 2022 Unesco report on ‘Reshaping Policies for Creativity’ found that embedding culture in a country’s national policy discourse, that is a whole-of-government approach, made a significant difference in the cultural and creative economies.
Countries that have embedded their culture into their broader national strategies not only provided necessary budget allocations for the creative industries, but they also had dedicated offices in the most senior offices (office of the president or prime minister) to oversee the progress of these industries.
These countries also included the creative industries in their medium to long-term country agendas and set specific targets within the industry.
Necessary infrastructure
For example, in 2019, Indonesia adopted Law 24 on the Creative Economy, which established a Creative Economy Masterplan and set up a dedicated public service agency to support and regulate the industry. In this master plan, the government of Indonesia aims to provide the necessary infrastructure and build the capacity of cultural industries’ workers and protect their intellectual property to safeguard the industry.
Unesco also notes Indonesia’s whole-of-government approach to managing the creative economy by setting up the Coordinating Ministry for Human Development and Culture, which is the implementing ministry. This ministry not only implements the master plan but also coordinates seven ministries within the government that control various portfolios linked to the creative sector.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2021 launched the Cultural and Creative Industries Strategy (2021-2031) through its Ministry of Culture and Youth.
The aim is to increase the socioeconomic impact and value of cultural and creative industries (CCI) in the UAE from 2.9 per cent to five per cent of the GDP and double the number of micro, small and medium and large businesses within this industry. This aimed at creating more jobs and raising the average income of creative professionals in the UAE.
In future pieces, we will continue to unpack these national strategies and hopefully see what we could glean from them.
Dr Chege is a media and technology researcher.
