DTI crafts action plan to grow creative industries

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has lined up several initiatives to spur the growth of the country’s creative industries.

At the Philippine Creatives Industries Summit, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual said the DTI would launch various programs and projects under the banner “Malikhaing Pinoy” or Creative Philippines, in a bid to start the implementation of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA).

“Malikhaing Pinoy is our holistic approach to addressing the constraints and barriers to the growth of the creative industries. It is a flagship initiative well-informed by the various sector-specific industry studies and roadmaps carried out by the DTI with support from our champions in Congress,” Pascual said.

“These research studies have identified the industries’ most binding constraints, which our proposed projects and programs will address,”he said.

Pascual emphasized the need to conduct robust industry studies in many creative sub-sectors.

“We also need to address the deficiencies in statistical data on the actual contribution of the creative industries to employment, trade, and the economy at large,” he said.

To allow us to measure the creative industries’ economic contributions accurately, the DTI chief said they would continue working with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to establish a well-defined and reliable statistical system through the Creative Industries Satellite Account.

In addition, Pascual said they are on track with work on industry studies and roadmaps for the creative sub-sectors of architecture and landscapes, e-Sports, fashion and textile, furniture and fixtures, gifts, decors, housewares, graphic design, and jewelry.

Aside from the lack of data, Pascual also acknowledged that creative enterprises and workers have limited access to capital, which is crucial in sustaining and expanding their operations.

“Hence, we will establish the Creative Venture Fund, consistent with the goals of PCIDA, and shall be used to co-finance the business expansion of creative enterprises and individuals,” he said.

In addition to this venture fund, Pascual said financial support in the form of grants and soft loans is also being planned.

Meanwhile, Pascual also stressed the need to equip creative workers with 21st-century skills and competencies to navigate the increasingly complex new technologies and their application in creative processes.

“We plan to begin building the Ensayo Creative Hub. This creative learning academy will be a co-working space where creative professionals and aspiring creatives can collaborate in a safe and creative space to share their ideas, pursue business development, and conduct networking,” Pascual said.

He said that a series of creative capability building programs focused on animation and game development would be implemented through the hub.

“We will offer courses on starting an animation and game development business, marketing and management, partnerships, and international opportunities,” Pascual said.

Pascual  also shared that they are looking to pilot the establishment of Creative Innovation Centers, such as studios, co-working spaces, and pilot laboratories, where the application of cutting-edge technologies demonstrated, advanced research and development can be performed, and co-creation programs can be implemented.

He said the DTI would also offer a creative market acceleration program to enable our creative industries to grow their businesses, attract investments, and expand to foreign markets.

Moreover, Pascual said the DTI would also work with the Game Development Association of the Philippines (GDAP) to conduct aggressive trade and investment promotions to capture market opportunities in the global game development industry.

“We intend to participate in the External Development Summit (XDS), the only annual international games industry event on the development of art, animation, audio, and software engineering, among others,” he said.

To increase the international exposure of the country’s animators, the DTI will elevate the country’s participation in the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

“We are also preparing a Startup Incubation Program for game development startups, which we will connect to Vancouver – a game development hotspot in Canada with over 300 game development studios,” he added.