DTI to allocate P500 million for creative venture fund

MANILA, Philippines — The government plans to allocate P500 million for a venture fund aimed at co-financing the business expansion of creative enterprises and individuals, according to Trade and Industry Secretary Alfredo Pascual.

At the recent Philippine Creatives Industries Summit last week, Pascual announced plans to establish a creative venture fund, consistent with the goals of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act (PCIDA).

On the sidelines of the summit, Pascual told reporters that the DTI is working on the establishment of the planned creative venture fund.

“The initial plan is to start with P500 million, but we didn’t get the funding yet,” Pascual said when asked on how much budget would be allocated for the fund.

Pascual said the budget from the fund would come from appropriations.

“There will be an initial budget for the fund. Then we have to deploy the funds, and if we need more, then we can ask for additional funding,” he said.

In a separate interview, DTI Competitiveness and Innovation Group Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said the government has set aside P20 million to jumpstart the process for the creative venture fund.

“Right now, we’re starting with the P20 million fund. It’s just for the year and the plan is just to jumpstart the whole process. But remember, we’re also doing the same thing together with the National Development Company and so we’ll just continue that program. But this time, the fund is going to be dedicated to creative startups,”Aldaba said.

“So it can either be a co-investment, partnership and some other forms of collaboration with other partners from the startup community,” she added.

Meanwhile, Aldaba said the first draft of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Plan may come out by the end of the year.

“The first draft will definitely have to be finished by the end of the year. So our timetable is one year. And we’re supposed to send it also to the Office of the President for approval,”Aldaba said.

She said that while the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council has not yet convened, it is in the process of forming the team that’s going to help it in coming up with the Philippine creative industry development plan.

“That’s going to provide the policy direction along with the various activities, plans and programs, that we will be implementing over a period of 10 years,” she said.

As part of its efforts to spur the growth of the country’s creative industry, the DTI launched the Malikhaing Pinoy Program or Creative Philippines Program, during the summit.

“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.

Apart from the creative venture fund, other initiatives of the DTI under the Malikhaing Pinoy program include the establishment of the Creative Industries Satellite Account and the Ensayo Creative Hub.