Print

Mail

wiki links

Promoting the cultural industries

`Change is the only way to sustain, upgrade and further the economy ... The new economic model for Taiwan to remain competitive is to "think globally and act locally."'

The media has placed too much emphasis on controversial political and social issues recently. These issues have done nothing but discourage our efforts to move this country forward. It is about time to shift the focus back to Taiwan's existing and potential economic strengths. One area that we can dedicate more effort to, particularly in a regional context, is the cultural and creative industries.

Taiwan's manufacturing industries turned the country into an economic miracle and one of the Asian Tigers. However, the proliferation of information, technological change and internationalization have empowered many other countries and their manufacturing sectors. The result is more intense international competition. Lacking natural resources, Taiwan needs to work twice as hard to sustain its current status in the global economy. Structural change has also become a necessity for many industries to survive when competing internationally.

Resistance to change is not the appropriate way to maintain the status quo. Change is the only way to sustain, upgrade and further develop the economy. Taiwan is starting to adopt structural change and to promote the cultural and creative industries. The new economic model for Taiwan to remain competitive is to "think globally and act locally." By manufacturing products that promote local cultural content and packaging them in a mixture of artistic creativeness and commercial acumen, Taiwan is able to help promote its cultural identity and provide added value to relevant industries.

These goals were incorporated into the development plan for cultural and creative industries in the "Challenge 2008 National Development Plan" in 2002. Taiwan now has more than 50,000 companies that are categorized as cultural and creative industries. Most are small and medium-sized enterprises. They include companies from the visual arts, music, the performing arts, crafts, cultural display facilities, design, publishing, television broadcasting, radio, film, advertising, digital entertainment, fashion, the architecture and the lifestyle industry.

The last item in particular has a distinct Taiwan flavor. This particular industry is defined as: "businesses that originate from creativity or cultural accumulation and operated with innovative ways to provide products or services for food, clothing, accommodation, transportation, education and recreation." From the economist's point of view, it is a creative approach to expand the existing demand side.

The development of cultural and creative industries in Taiwan has been impressive. The country's roadmap to promote cultural and creative industries was created on the basis of horizontal governmental coordination. This development plan has been jointly undertaken by four governmental agencies. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is responsible for nurturing and promoting the design related industries. The Ministry of Education is in charge of developing human resources. The Government Information Office oversees and fosters the development of the media industry. And the Council for Cultural Affairs is responsible for supporting the arts sector.

The joint forces of these four governmental agencies require inter-departmental and cross-industrial cooperation to make a positive difference. The Ministry of Economic Affairs serves as the coordinator of these efforts, but flexibility is equally required of all participants.

Regarding vertical coordination to promote cultural and creative industries, the key is to create and strengthen the partnership between the central and local governments. The government investigates and evaluates the current environment of relevant industries.

Based on the outcome of this research, the central government then initiates a policy package aimed at nurturing experts, creating an enabling environment and providing direct consultation services. The role of local governments is to implement the policies initiated by the center, while the central government adopts the role of a visionary leader.

The government's promotional roadmap has five dimensions, which include: to create job opportunities in the cultural and creative industries; to generate added value for relevant industries; to enhance living quality; to promote Taiwanese culture and inspire creativity; and to make Taiwan the hub of regional cultural and creative industries. Taiwan can only pursue this roadmap in partnership with its West Pacific neighbors.

We all know that Australia, Japan, Korea and New Zealand have been very successful in promoting their cultural and creative industries in addition to their well-developed macroeconomic structures. Korea has had remarkable success recently promoting TV and movie productions. Japan has long been at the forefront of domestic cultural preservation and production.

For their part, Australia and New Zealand have effectively combined Western and local cultures and developed their own unique identities.

One way to promote cooperation with these countries is to create a specific platform under the Democratic Pacific Union (DPU).

APEC is another route. The APEC Economic and Technical Cooperation (ECOTECH) is a designated mechanism that provides training and cooperation to build capacities in APEC member countries or economies. ECOTECH has been serving as a catalyst for upgrading relevant skills to optimize each individual country's potential.

However, the drawback of this route is that the ECOTECH consists of so many diverse areas and quality deficiencies happen due to limited resources. The proposed DPU Cultural and Creative Industry Cooperation would be able to overcome this limitation by focusing on one area.

The Taiwanese government should be very interested in identifying areas and degrees of cultural and creative industries that Taiwan, the leading group and developing economies can work together through the proposed DPU platform.

All economies in the Asia-Pacific region that have a strong interest in promoting cultural and creative industries will be encouraged to participate in future activities organized by the DPU Cultural and Creative Industry Cooperation. It is a unique opportunity for the DPU to include promoting cultural and creative industries in its agenda.

In addition, regular cultural exchange and communications via the DPU will definitely improve mutual understanding among DPU members. As a founding member of the DPU and a country trying to upgrade its competitiveness, Taiwan ought to be ready to cooperate with the rest of the world.

David Hong is the president of the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research. Darson Chiu is an associate research fellow at the institute.
This story has been viewed 1457 times.