Date: 30 January 2009
Time: 2:00 to 4:00 PM
Venue: MBC Room, 2nd Floor of AIM Conference Center Manila
Fourth Creative Industries Consultation-Workshop
As the country’s competitiveness is still at the crossroads, the AIM Policy Center and its steadfast partner, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, convened the Fourth Consultation Workshop on Creative Industries slated on 30 January 2009 from 2:00 to 4:00 in the afternoon at the MBC Room, 2nd Floor of AIM Conference Center Manila to continue and step up initiatives to develop and support the Philippine creative industries.
Ms. Theresa Robles, Program Manager for Global Competitiveness of AIM Policy Center, formally opened the roundtable discussion by welcoming the participants and giving a brief overview and highlighting the past efforts of the AIM Policy Center as it strives towards fostering recognition and support for the local creative industries.
Mr. James Rodney Romana, Chief Trade Industry Development Specialist of the Creative Industries Division, Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM), outlined what transpired during the “Nurturing Creativity: First Philippine Creative Industry Forum” in 2005. He discussed the plenary presentations, breakout sessions, summary of proceedings, and results of next steps of the forum.
Discussions during the roundtable proper, moderated by Dr. Federico Macaranas, Executive Director of the AIM Policy Center, were centered on the following topics: organizing the creative industries, roadmap for creative industries, mapping project, and the proposed creative industries festival.
On organizing the creative industries, Dr. Macaranas suggested that the participants revisit the past proposals during the 2005 summit and create a workable plan of action based on the identified next steps. He also noted opportunities to tap the Managing the Arts Program of Asian Institute of Management (AIM) to gain additional management perspective in approaching creative industries issues. He also recommended that the participants seek guidance from Dr. Patricia Lontoc, Professor from AIM, in drafting the roadmap for creative industries.
A push for materializing the mapping project of the creative industries is pertinent as Dr. Macaranas said that through this exercise, we will be able to identify the key players in the sector, their value, main inputs, and problem areas. He underscored the Hong Kong mapping project as a model to consider in the Philippines. The Cultural Center of the Philippines (CCP) is currently working on mapping the Philippine creative industries using the UNCTAD framework.
The suggestion of holding a second creative industries summit, dubbed as “Creative Industries Festival 2009,” received substantial interest from all of the participants coming from the government and private sectors. Ms. Eva Salvador of CCP proposed that the festival should build on existing initiatives and not only focus on past advocacies. Mr. Eduardo Robles of National Commission for the Culture and the Arts (NCCA) expressed their interest in covering the festival expenses, pending submission of a concept paper and budget. Other participants who expressed their support were Mr. Miguel Padua of Foreign Service Institute- Department of Foreign Affairs (FSI-DFA), Mr. Robert Alejandro of Ilustrador ng Kabataan, Mr. Ranulf Goss and Mr. Cesar Tolentino of Game Development Association of the Philippines (GDAP), and Mr. Mark Ruiz of Creative Industries Initiatives. Mr. Romana of CITEM further suggested that the festival must contain a lecture and a trade-show component. Dr. Macaranas also raised the possibility of showcasing just one or two industry/ies (i.e. game development and animation) in the festival to streamline the festival activities but the need to promote the creative industries as a whole was deemed more important.
Ms. Robles summed up the discussion and encouraged the participants to design a concept paper for the festival and a workable time frame as well. The participants agreed that it is time for quick action, commitment, and cooperation from the various players in the industries if we are to move forward and hasten the much needed progress of the Philippine creative industries.
First Philippine Creative Industry Forum (.pdf)
Mr. James Rodney Romana
Chief Trade Industry Development Specialist of the Creative Industries Division
Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions (CITEM)