Overview

The Creative Economy Report 2008 is the first study to present the United Nations
perspective on this emerging topic. It is an initiative of the partnership between UNCTAD
and the UNDP Special Unit for South-South Cooperation. Furthermore, it is a pioneer
example of the work being undertaken by the Multi-Agency Informal Dialogue Group on
Creative Industries.1 It brings together contributions from five relevant United Nations
bodies: UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCO, WIPO and ITC. This collective effort not only contributes
to building synergy and exploring complementarities but also is an effective way to
advance policy coherence and enhance the impact of international actions in the area of
the creative economy and creative industries.

Creativity, culture and economic development paradigm is emerging that links theeconomy and culture, embracing economic, cultural, technological and social aspects of development at both the macro and micro levels. Central to the new paradigm is the fact that creativity, knowledge and access to information are increasingly recognized as powerful engines driving economic growth and promoting development in a globalizing world.

“Creativity” in this context refers to the formulation of new ideas and to the application of
these ideas to produce original works of art and cultural products, functional creations, scientific
inventions and technological innovations. There is thus an economic aspect to creativity, observable
in the way it contributes to entrepreneurship, fosters innovation, enhances productivity and promotes economic growth.

Creativity is found in all societies and countries – rich or poor, large or small, advanced or developing. The word “creativity” is associated with originality, imagination, inspiration, ingenuity and inventiveness. It is an inner characteristic of individuals to be imaginative and express ideas; associated with knowledge, these ideas are the essence of intellectual capital. Similarly, every society has its stock of intangible cultural capital articulated by people’s identity and values. Civilizations since time immemorial have been aware of these concepts. However, the twenty-first
century has seen a growing understanding of the interface between creativity, culture and
economics, the rationale behind the emerging concept of the “creative economy”.

The concept of the “creative economy” is an evolving one that is gaining ground in contemporary thinking about economic development. It entails a shift from the conventional models towards a multidisciplinary model dealing with the interface between economics, culture and technology and centred on the predominance of services and creative content. Given its multidisciplinary structure, the creative economy offers a feasible option as part of a results-oriented development strategy for developing countries.

It calls for the adoption of effective cross-cutting mechanisms and innovative interministerial policy action. 2 For some people, the “creative economy” is a holistic concept dealing with complex
interactions between culture, economics and technology in the contemporary globalized world that is dominated by symbols, texts, sounds and images. Others are more sceptical about this fashionable label, voicing concerns about its overstated importance and the way it may exacerbate cultural and technological divisions. Against this background, the creative economy has become a topical issue of the international economic and development agenda, calling for informed policy responses in both developed and developing countries.

There is no unique definition of the “creative economy”. It is a subjective concept that is still being shaped. There is, however, growing convergence on a core group of activities and their interactions both in individual countries and at the international level.

The present Report adopts the UNCTAD definition of the “creative economy”, which can be summarized as follows:

■ The creative economy is an evolving concept
based on creative assets potentially generating
economic growth and development;

■ It can foster income generation, job creation
and export earnings while promoting social
inclusion, cultural diversity and human
development;

■ It embraces economic, cultural and social
aspects interacting with technology, intellectual
property and tourism objectives;

■ It is a set of knowledge-based economic
activities with a development dimension
and cross-cutting linkages at macro and
micro levels to the overall economy;

■ It is a feasible development option calling
for innovative multidisciplinary policy
responses and interministerial action;

■ At the heart of the creative economy are the
creative industries.3
“Creative industries” can be defined as the
cycles of creation, production and distribution
of goods and services that use creativity and
intellectual capital as primary inputs. They
comprise a set of knowledge-based activities
that produce tangible goods and intangible
intellectual or artistic services with creative
content, economic value and market objectives.4
Creative industries constitute a vast and
heterogeneous field dealing with the interplay
of various creative activities ranging from
traditional arts and crafts, publishing, music,
and visual and performing arts to more
technology-intensive and services-oriented
groups of activities such as film, television and
radio broadcasting, new media and design.
The creative sector has a flexible and modular
market structure that ranges from independent
artists and small-business enterprises at one
extreme to some of the world’s largest
conglomerates at the other.
Today, creative industries are among the
most dynamic sectors in world trade. Over the
period 2000-2005, international trade in creative
goods and services experienced an
unprecedented average annual growth rate of
8.7 per cent. The value of world exports of
creative goods and services reached $424.4
billion in 2005, representing 3.4 per cent of
total world trade, according to UNCTAD.
Nowadays in the most advanced countries, the
creative industries are emerging as a strategic
choice for reinvigorating economic growth,
employment and social cohesion. The socalled
“creative cities” are proliferating in
Europe and North America, revitalizing the
economy of urban centres through cultural
and social developments offering attractive
jobs, particularly to young people. The
turnover of the European creative industries
amounted to 654 billion euros in 2003,
growing 12.3 per cent faster than the overall
economy of the European Union and
employing over 5.6 million people.5
A significant finding of the present
study is the evidence that some developing
countries, mainly in Asia, have started benefiting
from the dynamism of the global creative
economy and are putting in place tailored
cross-cutting policies to enhance their creative
industries. China, which is leading this
process, became the world’s leading producer
and exporter of value-added creative products
n 2005. Nevertheless, the large majority of
developing countries are not yet able to harness
their creative capacities for development
gains. The obstacles preventing these developing
countries from enhancing their creative
economies are a combination of domestic
policy weaknesses and global systemic biases,
issues addressed in the analysis of this Report.
Another important conclusion of this
study is that developing-country exports of
related creative goods (including computers,
cameras, television sets, and broadcasting and
audiovisual equipment) increased rapidly over
the period 1996-2005 from $51 billion to
$274 billion.6 This spectacular growth is
indicative of the catching-up strategies being
pursued in a number of developing countries
to increase their capacities to supply
value-added products to global markets. It
also reaffirms the continually expanding
demand for creative products that rely on
these related industries for their distribution
and consumption. This ever-increasing
demand is further confirmation of the potential
of the creative economy to contribute to
economic growth The development dimension
economy is the guiding principle of this
Report. Developing countries can further
integrate into the global economy by nurturing
their creative capacities and enhancing the
competitiveness of their creative goods and
services in world markets, provided that
appropriate public policies are in place at the
national level and market imbalances can be
redressed at the international level. In this
respect, support for domestic creative industries
should be seen as an integral part of the
promotion and protection of cultural diversity.
Moreover, such diversity, because it is a global
public good, needs to be fully supported by
the international community.7
With the increasing knowledge intensity
of the contemporary economy and the need
for innovation to maintain competitive advantage,
it has become imperative for countries to
tap into their vast reserves of creativity. This
has been made easier by rapid advances in
information and communication technologies
(ICTs), which are progressively linking countries
and regions worldwide. Opportunities
are thus created for developing countries to
access global markets for the products of their
creativity and cultural diversity in a way not
previously possible – and to do so directly,
without intermediaries. Nonetheless, the
challenges are immense and should not be
underestimated.
Despite the richness of their cultural
diversity and the abundance of creative talent,
the great majority of developing countries are
not yet fully benefiting from the enormous
potential of their creative economies to
improve development gains.8 These countries
have been facing domestic and international
obstacles that need to be fully understood and
overcome through cross-cutting institutional
mechanisms and multidisciplinary policies. In
this scenario, development strategies must be
updated to cope with the far-reaching cultural,
economic and technological shifts that are
reshaping society.
There is, for example, widespread recognition
of the significance of tourism for development.9
In the present Report, a preliminary
attempt is made to investigate the link between
tourism and the creative industries, addressing
the question as to whether the demand for creative
goods and services by tourists supports
the development of the creative economy.
From the perspective of the creative economy
elaborated in this Report, measures need to be
taken to ensure that creative workers can reap
the benefits from the increasing demand by
tourists for creative products.
The role of culture in development has
been analysed in the Human Development Report
2004 published for UNDP.10 The present
Report aims to build on the normative debate
about culture and development by adding the
economic dimension of the creative economy
to the consideration of the development
process. In so doing, it raises the question of
the precise relationship between human
expression and social and economic instrumentalism.
The Report raises this issue as an
essential matter that must be taken into
account in policy-making.
Overall, this study is a first attempt to
present a broader perspective on the potential
of the creative economy to assist developing
countries to leapfrog into new high-growth
creative sectors. Development strategies aimed
in this direction are consistent with the
achievement of the Millennium Development
Goals (MDGs). As is well known, these goals
represent the commitment of the international
community to engage in the global development
agenda in the coming years. There are eight
goals with specific time-bound targets to be
reached by 2015, the first and most important
of which aims at the eradication of extreme
poverty and hunger. The MDGs address
development challenges not as a separate but
as an inherent part of the global economy and
societies. The full realization of these goals
necessitates innovative and cross-sectoral
approaches to development and the serious
consideration of issues such as culture, environment
and social development. The achievement
of the MDGs demands a holistic and
multisectoral approach that goes beyond economics
and includes cultural and social
frameworks; the creative economy reflects
such an approach.
The main purpose of this Report is to
provide the conceptual and policy framework
for understanding the creative economy, with a
view to identifying analytical tools conducive
to informed policy-making. The Report introduces
the concept of the “creative economy”,
reviews definitions, recognizes characteristics
and identifies parameters to assist in measuring
the impact of the creative economy at the
national and international levels. The objective
is to propose a shared vision and a policyoriented
research agenda that reflects current
economic thinking and enables comparative
analysis as the basis for national and
international policy formulation.
The Report takes stock of ongoing
research being carried out in different parts of
the world for mapping the overall impact of
the creative economy at the national and
international levels. Rather than prescribing a
single model for mapping the creative economy
in developing countries, it sheds light on possible
alternatives, pointing, however, to the
limitations of certain methodologies and
current gaps in statistics and quantitative
analytical tools. Nevertheless, it suggests some
elements to facilitate comparability across creative
industries within and among countries.
The purpose is to present a comprehensive
analysis and pave the way for the introduction
of parameters for assessing national creative
economies worldwide, emphasizing the
importance of international trade in the
development process.
Despite the limitations of economic
and social indicators, this Report takes the
first step in using available official data to
trace the global and regional trade flows of
creative products and services for the period
1996-2005, examining the main trends and
identifying the key players in major markets.
It presents an analysis of the value chain and
the market structure of creative industries,
concluding that the oligopolistic nature of
marketing and distribution inhibits the competitiveness
of creative goods and services from
developing countries in the global trading system.
It draws attention to the difficulties in
quantifying intangible values and the constraints
to capturing the real impact of international
trade in creative goods and services in the world
economy. This Report emphasizes the need to
improve market transparency, particularly in the
most technology-intensive and services-oriented
sectors such as audiovisuals and new media.
It also examines the scope for reinforcing
South-South as well as North-South trade and
cooperation.
This Report recognizes the growing role
of intellectual property rights (IPRs) as a tool
with which to generate earnings from
creative industries. The need to improve awareness
and to reinforce the effectiveness of intellectual
property regimes is highlighted.
Nevertheless, the Report also recognizes the
asymmetries existing in the current regime and
stresses the need to review the enforcement of
some policy instruments with a view to ensuring
that the interests of developing countries are
properly taken into account. Issues relating to
traditional knowledge, cultural expressions and
public domain are also discussed in the light of
progress made in the work of the World
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).
The Report also presents an analysis of
the phenomenon of connectivity and its
influence on world patterns of production,
consumption and trade in tangible and intangible
creative products. The importance of
ICT tools and the new business models with
new forms of marketing and distribution of
creative content in the digital era are
discussed. Technology plays a key role in the
creative economy not only as the essence of
creative sectors such as audiovisuals and new
media but also as the means by which to
access and circulate digitized content in
today’s interactive multimedia environment.
The importance of international policies
and global processes in shaping the emerging
creative economy is also examined. This
Report addresses the issue of the relevance
of multilateral processes such as the
Development Agendas of WIPO and the
World Trade Organization (WTO) as well as
the entering into force of the UNESCO
Convention on the Protection and Promotion
of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and
their implications for the creative industries
and the creative economy. Attention is also
given to greater mobilization of developing
countries by the Member States of the Group
of 77 (G-77)11 in order to promote the
creative economy as a tool for development
and by the inter-agency cooperation promoted
by UNDP through its Special Unit for
South-South Cooperation.12 This Report
presents an overview of the most influential
intergovernmental decisions of relevance to
the creative economy. The purpose is to
explore the policy framework surrounding the
creative economy, with a view to identifying
policy options to strengthen and integrate
local creative industries into national and
international development strategies and
global markets.
Given the multiplicity of approaches,
the conclusion is reached that at this stage,
there is no consensual model of the optimum
package of policies towards the creative industries.
Nevertheless, individual countries are
encouraged to make some strategic choices of
cross-cutting public policies in order to
strengthen their creative economies. Due
account should be taken of the specificities of
their cultural identities and the competitive
advantages of particular creative industries.
Illustrative cases and successful practices
being carried out in different countries are
featured in the Report as evidence of the sorts
of opportunities available in different parts of
the world.

In summary, this Report aims to assist developing countries to harness their creative economies and to maximize development gains by recognizing the creative economy as a feasible option for linking economic, technological, social and cultural development objectives in a globalizing world. It does this by:

■ discussing concepts, methods and the structure of the creative economy;

■ sharing evidence-based analysis confirming that the creative industries constitute a new
dynamic sector in international trade; and

■ suggesting directions for policy strategies. The Report recognizes that creativity and human talent, more than traditional production factors such as labour and capital, are fast becoming powerful engines of sustainable development. Developing countries around the world can find ways to optimize the potential of the creative economy for generating socio-economic growth, job creation and export earnings while at the same time promoting social inclusion, cultural diversity and human development.

——————————————————————————————————————————

1 This Group was set up by the Secretary-General of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 2004 in the context of preparations for the High-level Panel on Creative Industries and Development, held during the UNCTAD XI Ministerial Conference. UNCTAD, as chair of the Group, convenes two meetings a year in Geneva. The work of the Group has been revitalized with a view to promoting concerted international actions and joint initiatives by the United Nations family so as to enhance the contribution of the creative economy to development.

2 UNCTAD Statement at the Second Meeting of the Ministers of Culture of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of States, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, October 2006.

3 Definition by the UNCTAD Creative Economy and Industries Programme, 2005.

4 UNCTAD definition further elaborated in chap

5 See Economy of Culture in Europe, study prepared for the European Commission by KEA, European Affairs, Brussels, 2006.

6 See also chapter 5.

7 See Summary of High-level Panel on Creative Industries (document TD/L.379, 16 June 2004).

8 Statement of the Secretary-General of UNCTAD at the World Knowledge Forum, Seoul, Republic of Korea, October 2006.

9 Tourism, Culture and Sustainable Development (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 2006); World Tourism Barometer (United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), 2007); and Outcome of Pre-UNCTAD XI High-Level International Meeting of Experts on Sustainable Tourism for Development (UNCTAD document TD(XI)/PC/6,
18 March 2004).

10 Human Development Report 2004: Cultural Liberty in Today’s Diverse World, published for the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and for which Professor Amartya Sen developed the conceptual framework

11Message from the Chairman of the G-77 at the International Forum on the Creative Economy for Development held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on 26 November 2006:

http://www.g77.org/Speeches/112606.html 12Statements of the Administrator of UNDP and the Director-General of UNESCO at the 2005 United Nations Day for South-South Cooperation that focused on “Celebrating the Global South: Diversity and Creativity”:

http://tcdc.undp.org/UNDAY/unday2-admin-stmt.pdf and

http://portal.unesco.org/culture/es/ev.phpURL_ID=29653&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html

LINK：Creative Economy Report 2008