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December 2009
From Manufacturing Hubs to Creative Hubs
The rise of Creative Industries and its challenges in South East Asia IntroductionOn a recent official visit to France, Malaysia’s Prime Minister made a special day trip from Paris to Cannes to lend support to Malaysian creative companies participating in “MIPCOMM”, one of the world's biggest annual trade shows for multimedia content developers from around the world. The Prime Minister even took time to blog about his visit to “MIPCOMM”. Creative industries, which once received little attention in South East Asia (SEA), have now become a sector that is receiving unprecedented attention. If in the past, SEA economies were not convinced of the potential the sector can play, they are now investing millions of dollars to enhance and grow the sector.
What are Creative
Industries?
UK Department
for Media, Culture, and Sports classification of Creative Industries
From Manufacturing Hubs to Creative Hubs For decades, SEA’s success and growth have been mainly due to its foreign investment centric economy, focusing primarily on the manufacturing sector. Now, as the manufacturing sector is no longer able to attract the level of investment as it did in the past, SEA countries are looking at new growth sectors to sustain and grow their economies.
Challenges
While the economies in SEA have recognized the opportunities presented
by the creative industries and have consequently allocated substantial
funds and formulated strategies, there remain many challenges ahead.
Some of the challenges are: Infrastructure Just like how good transportation network and reliable electricity supply were essential in the past to grow the manufacturing industry, the success of the creative industries is very much dependent on having a good infrastructure system in place e.g. internet network connection. This is especially vital for the digital based sub-sectors. Unfortunately, most of the SEA countries are not up to speed with its broadband infrastructure. Without a reliable and extensive internet connection, the development and the distribution of creative products and services will be mired in an inefficient eco-system. Intellectual Property Protection Intellectual property awareness, protection and enforcement are still viewed with marginal interest in SEA. Copyright infringement is still rampant. Appreciation of an individual’s creative work and the recognition that ideas are tangible assets must be inculcated at all levels of government and society. Infringement of intellectual property must be dealt with the seriousness that it deserves. Human Capital The success of the creative industries ultimately lies in an individual’s creativity and critical thinking skills. While there is an adequate number of people for the growth of the creative industries, SEA still faces serious talent gaps in the areas of developing and commercializing original, innovative and globally marketable ideas. These talent gaps can be attributed to an education system that greatly rewards academic performance, while giving little importance to an individual’s creative skills. A more balanced education system that encourages a good mix of “hard” and “soft” skills, such as creative thinking and problem solving skills, must be put into action. Talent must be nurtured at all levels to develop thinking entrepreneurs rather than simply churning out graduates. Ease of doing businesses The creative industries are mainly dominated by small and medium size enterprises with limited administrative resources. As such, how easy it is to set-up shop, get the necessary regulatory approvals, and to do business in a particular country will have a direct impact on the development of the sector. Regrettably, many of the SEA countries are in the lower ranks in the various “ease of doing business index”. The issue of a conducive business environment is further compounded because of the way the regulatory system is currently structured; numerous agencies within the ministries are tasked to oversee the development and the administrative aspects of the many sub-sectors of the creative industries. This current fragmented system is no longer practical as the convergence and the interplay of the various sub-sectors within the creative industries make it almost impossible to separate precisely under which sub-sectors they belong to. While all the countries have recognized these issues, some countries like Singapore and Thailand are taking concrete steps in setting up a one-stop agency to deal with all aspects of the creative industries, whereas some have yet to do so.
Creative industries are being viewed as new engines that can drive economic growth in SEA. Having recognized the potential contribution to the economy from this sector, the economies in SEA are taking steps to maximize its potential. While all of them have allocated substantial funds towards the development of the sector, addressing the growth barriers in a substantive way is still very much work-in-progress. The economies that are able to put in place the necessary infrastructure, policies and strategies will have the best shot at being the front runner in attracting investment from both local and foreign companies. Given the fact that each of the economies has their own unique set of challenges and constrains, it is up to the individual country to develop creative approaches to overcome these barriers. After all, we are speaking of developing the creative industries, and just about all of the economies in SEA aspire to be the region’s creative hub. |
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