Statistics on Cultural Industries - International Trade Centre

–directly engaged in cultural industries, the promotion of cultural industries may in turn leadto increased consumption and income-generation for other (poorer) segments of the localeconomy and to increased participation in local affairs and governance.Development of the cultural industries sector may also promote the use and protectionof traditional knowledge and nurture further development of such knowledge throughinnovation and trade that may contribute positively to a sense of identity and direction bothfor the individual and the society, particularly if these community knowledge resources areprotected under intellectual property rights protection regimes.An important aspect of cultural industries development as a strategy for poverty reduction andlocal development is the cultural industries’ close link to the knowledge economy which is boththe basis and the result of the increased consumption of cultural goods and services. Every aspectof the cultural industries cycle: origination, production, marketing, distribution and sales, and evenconsumption, may be enhanced by the use of new information technology. Hence, the applicationof information technology in a strategy focusing on, for example, the development of local craftindustries may eventually lead to the growth of other cultural industries, e.g. software developmentor illustration and graphic design. Linked with the necessary support for ICT, the development oflocal cultural industries may therefore also provide the impetus for other private sector businessdevelopment, outside the cultural industries themselves, targeting the many better educatedyouths. The information context is therefore a key to understanding cultural industries and theirdevelopment potential.With its commitment to and investment in education for all and universal access to informationtechnology, Bhutan is well-placed to take advantage of this strategic pre-positioning for thedevelopment of its cultural industries.1.3 International Co-operation and Support<strong>Statistics</strong> on Cultural IndustriesFramework for the Elaboration of National Data Capacity Building ProjectsThe notion of culture as an inalienable component of more sustainable development modalitiesfocuses, on the one hand, on principles such as participation, aspiration, and diversity as the successcriteria for any development project while, on the other hand, opening up the sphere of culture tothe economic exploitation that is part of creative enterprise and cultural industries.The shift in the policy debate from arts and culture to cultural industries forces a new understandingof the relationship between traditional culture and modern economic development in whichculture is not perceived as an economic liability but as an asset and a renewable resource that maygrow with investment.In the world at large, culture and creativity are increasingly understood as an integral component ofsocio-economic development in knowledge-based economies. While governments in the fastestgrowingeconomies in Asia purposefully invest in, and promote, policy measures that supportand facilitate the development of cultural and creative industries, these business activities are lessincorporated into national planning frameworks in developing countries of the region – in spite ofthe fact that creativity and cultural industries everywhere are recognized as potentially importanteconomic activities.The new importance accorded the culture sector by the emergence of information-basedeconomies is reflected in the discussion of sustainable development and in international policystatements such as the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It encompasses a more64