Philippines aims to become Southeast Asia’s top creative economy by 2030

MANILA, Philippines — The government plans to develop advertising, film, animation, game development and design as priority sectors in line with the country’s aim to become the top creative economy in Southeast Asia by 2030.

In a statement, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said it has received the creative economy roadmap submitted by the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP),  which contains plans and programs to make the Philippines the number one creative economy in the Southeast Asian region in terms of size and value of creative industries, as well as the competitiveness and attractiveness of creative talent and content in international markets.

The roadmap, which covers cultural domains such as cultural and natural heritage; performance and celebration; visual arts and artisan products; books and press; audio-visual, broadcast and interactive media; and creative services, as well as other related domains including tourism, and sports and recreation, was submitted to the DTI to get more inputs.

To achieve the goal of becoming the top Southeast Asian creative economy by 2030, CECP president Paolo Mercado said advertising, film, animation, game development and design particularly, graphic and digital design, have been identified as priority sectors which would need action plans.

The priority sectors were identified after Trade Undersecretary and Board of Investments (BOI) managing head Ceferino Rodolfo said during a meeting between the DTI and CECP that there is a need to define the creative economy within the Philippine context and specify five sectors for the crafting of specific action plans of the roadmap.

Rodolfo said making concrete roadmaps for priority sectors such as animation, game development, and film would complement the creative economy.

Once the roadmaps are in place, he said the priority sectors could be given tax incentives under the upcoming Strategic Investments Priority Plan (SIPP) 2020 to 2023.

Under the proposed second package of the government’s tax reform program, the BOI has been tasked to formulate the SIPP which will identify activities eligible for incentives.

A roadmap is being crafted for the creative industries as it is serves as an important source of trade and investment opportunities even for micro, small and medium enterprises.

With a roadmap, the country can develop its creative industries such as tourism, information technology – business process management and other creative services to increase their contribution to the economy.

In addition, the roadmap is seen as a tool to achieve a sustainable creative economy given the ongoing fusion of physical and digital technologies as a result of the Fourth Industrial Revolution or Industry 4.0.