Philippines seeks creation of ASEAN creative economy working group

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is pushing for the creation of an ASEAN creative economy working group (ACEWG) to serve as a platform for collaboration and exchange of best practices for the region’s creative economy sector.

Trade Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba made the pitch at the first meeting of the ASEAN senior economic officials on Jan. 16 to 17 in Semarang, Indonesia.

Aldaba presented the prospects of the ACEWG in facilitating, among others, an integrated framework for ASEAN member states to formulate policies and guidelines to boost the development of creative industries and revitalize the creative sectors.

“Creativity is the way of the future. As digital technologies, culture, and the creative economy converge, ASEAN needs to strengthen collaboration, align its policies and regulations to address constraints, close financing gaps, and manage the unequal levels of digital readiness,”Aldaba said.

“All these are necessary to promote the growth and development of the creative economy including culture-based creative industries heightening our ASEAN identity and rich history, culture, and heritage and embrace new technologies that are now shaping how content is produced and consumed,”she said.

By creating a working group on the growth and development of the creative economy, ASEAN member states would have a dedicated venue for discussing issues, cultivating exchanges of information, and crafting solutions and other support mechanisms that could be implemented at the country and regional levels, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.

Last December, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual signed the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act (RA) No. 11904, otherwise known as the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA).

The PCIDA, which lapsed into law on July 28, 2022, mandates the development of a vibrant Philippine creative industries by protecting and strengthening the rights and capacities of creative firms, artists, artisans, creators, creative workers, indigenous cultural communities, creative content providers, and other stakeholders.

The law provides adequate support measures to the Philippine creative industries which currently face various binding constraints to growth, such as high output costs, fragmented education systems, piracy issues, lack of data and statistics, underdeveloped branding and infrastructure, and wide skill gaps and mismatch, among others.

Pascual said earlier that the signing of the IRR is an important step towards harnessing the enormous potential of the Philippine creative industries.

“The collaborative efforts of the different stakeholders in the creative ecosystem are all vital in building a vibrant and globally competitive Philippine creative economy. Hence, we have made sure that the PCIDA-IRR would be a product of synergistic discussions with other government agencies and the creative industry players,”Pascual said.

He said the signing of the IRR is an important enabling measure to effectively execute the PCIDA towards transforming the creative industries to drive economic recovery and fuel an inclusive and sustainable growth.

“The IRR will promote a better work environment and livelihood for creative workers, improve education and access to financial support, develop industry data and statistics for policymakers, and harness other innovation efforts to help workers and firms in the creative economy,”Pascual said.

Pascual also highlighted the enormous potential of the Philippine creative industries, noting the role of the different stakeholders in building a vibrant and scaled-up Philippine creative economy at the forefront of the Asia-Pacific region, driving the country’s development and further enriching our local culture.

DTI said the creative industries contribute almost eight percent to the economy with employment of five million workers and exports accounting for 12 percent of the country’s total exports.