Creative Economy: A Feasible Development Option

■the MDG targets, and the creative economy can be a toolto forge all kinds of partnerships. The international communityshould respond to the efforts of Southern countriesto enhance their local creative capacities and preservetheir cultural diversity. Effective mechanisms should beput in place to help those countries improve the competitivenessof their cultural products and activities so theycan benefit from market opportunities and acceleratesocio-economic growth. Initiatives to facilitate culturalexchanges as well as better access to global markets aregreatly needed. Global partnerships could improve developingcountries’ cultural production and trade prospectsthrough concrete initiatives to: (a) facilitate wider accessto the global market of cultural activities and creativegoods and services; (b) facilitate the mobility of artistsfrom the developing world into the major markets, allowingartists, performers and cultural professionals preferentialtreatment; (c) promote capacity-building programmesto improve business skills, cultural entrepreneurship andbetter understanding of intellectual property rights; (d)facilitate the transfer of new information and communicationtechnologies and other tools for the creation anddistribution of digitalized creative content; (e) facilitateaccess to financing and attract investors, includingschemes for co-productions, joint ventures and investmentagreements. 3 North-South and South-South partnershipsshould prioritize national reforms to support the creativeindustries in the Southern countries through technicalcooperation projects. Special attention should be given tobuilding capacity in such areas as upgradingcreative talent and skills, streamlining supply chains andpromoting trade opportunities, particularly in the leastdeveloped countries, which are the world’s 50 poorestnations. 4Strategies for the social inclusion of youth. The arts and other culturalactivities have proven to be successful means ofengaging in productive work young people who mightotherwise be unemployed and perhaps at risk of antisocialconduct. Creative work can provide a sense of purpose inotherwise seemingly futile lives, and engagement in artistic■production of various sorts can raise self-esteem andsocial awareness. In this respect, fostering locally basedcreative industries may provide income-generation opportunitiesfor young people from rural areas and help to discouragethe drift to the cities that so often contributes tothe problem of marginalized youth. Recently, creativeeconomy strategies have been used successfully by localauthorities and NGOs to provide education and jobopportunities to thousands of teenagers who are economicallyand socially excluded and therefore exposed to delinquency.A remarkable example is in Medellin, Colombia,where creative centres and libraries were constructed toprovide youth in the most vulnerable parts of the cityspace for cultural education and socio-cultural activities.These efforts to help youth discover and develop theircreative talents have resulted in a significant drop in criminality,homicides and drug traffic. (Box 2.1 describesanother successful case.)Spreading access to new communications. The development of thecreative economy is strongly associated with new informationand communication technologies (ICTs). As the creativeindustries expand, there are greater capabilities forusing ICT tools not just to communicate but also morewidely to promote creativity, networking and access to thereal and virtual worlds. Fostering the creative industries isconsistent with the MDG target of making the benefits ofnew technologies, especially ICTs, more generally availablein the developing world.An example of how development strategies can contributeto the achievement of MDGs is provided by theCreative Industry Development Framework in the Gautengprovince of South Africa. This framework makes explicitthe contribution of the creative industries to social developmentgoals such as community participation in culturalactivities; regional integration across Africa; poverty alleviation,particularly in previously disadvantaged communitiesand among the youth; and public-private partnerships incommunity-based cultural programmes such as indigenousdance and music, carnivals and festivals.2The development dimension4 Fifty countries are designated by the United Nations as least developed countries (LDCs). These are the poorest countries in the world in terms of income, human assets andeconomic vulnerability. There are 32 LDCs in Africa, 8 in Asia and 11 islands. For further information see UNCTAD’s “The Least Developed Countries Report – 2009”(UNCTAD/LDC/2009).CREATIVE ECONOMY REPORT 201035