Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

from $3.5 billion in 2002 to $7 billion in2008, representing a market share of 24 percent, these numbers reflect only a partial realitysince the increase took place entirely in Asia,and mainly in China. Other countries andregions of the developing world have negligibleparticipation in global markets for visual arts.For instance, the world’s 49 poorest, or leastdeveloped, countries collectively exported only$426 million in visual arts in 2008, up from $2million in 2002. The SIDS exported about $6million in 2008. Among the major exportersfrom the South are China, Korea, andSingapore. India demonstrated the greatestdynamism; its exports of visual arts are muchhigher than other countries during the period2002-2008, as shown in table 5.17 (also seetables 1.2.A and 1.2.B in the annex).5.6.4 AudiovisualsFeaturesLike many creative industries, the audiovisualfield — which includes include motionpicture, television, radio and other forms ofbroadcasting — lacks clear definitions. Withthe introduction of new ITC tools and theemergence of the new media and connectivity,definitions have become even more problematic.As cultural and creative content are mixedtogether, it is hard to say whether a digitizedcartoon film represents an audiovisual productor a form of new media. Audiovisuals are oneof the most complex, politically sensitive andunderestimated subgroups among the creativeindustries, as well as one of the engines of thecreative economy.The audiovisual industry has importantpublic policy ramifications and poses difficultchallenges for governments, particularly indeveloping countries, due to its economic peculiarities,structural problems and low levels ofinvestment. Many countries in the South needto establish or strengthen their regulatoryframeworks to encourage high-quality audiovisualproduction. This may require incentivesTable 5.16 Visual arts: Top 10 exporters among developed economies, 2008RankExporterValue (inmillions of $)Marketshare (%)2008 20081 United States 8,558 28.78 23.412 United Kingdom 5,431 18.27 7.203 France 1,769 5.95 12.724 Switzerland 1,678 5.64 14.335 Germany 1,405 4.73 9.416 Japan 677 2.28 7.917 Italy 522 1.76 8.848 Canada 508 1.71 6.909 Netherlands 392 1.32 15.9110 Belgium 365 1.23 7.60Source: UNCTAD, based on official data in UN COMTRADE databaseGrowthrate (%)2003-2008Table 5.17 Visual arts: Top 10 exporters among developing economies, 2008Rank1 China 3,715 12.50 8.702 Korea, Republic of 890 2.99 53.493 China, Hong Kong SAR 769 2.59 3.914 Singapore 399 1.34 45.845 India 343 1.15 0.706 China, Taiwan Province of 204 0.69 20.537 Thailand 95 0.32 1.288 South Africa 93 0.31 22.009 Dominican Republic 87 0.29 657.9110 Viet Nam 81 0.27 34.02Source: UNCTAD, based on official data in UN COMTRADE databaseChart 5.12(in billions of $)2520151050ExporterValue (inmillions of $)Marketshare (%)2008 2008Visual arts: Exports, by economic group,2002, 2005 and 2008DevelopedeconomiesDevelopingeconomies2002 2005 2008Growthrate (%)2003-2008TransitioneconomiesSource: UNCTAD based on official data reported to UN COMTRADE database5International trade in creative goods and services: Global trends and featuresCREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 2010149