Ladies and Gentlemen, Good morning!

This year’s theme for Creative Industries Summit, “Unifying Creative Agenda, Elevating Filipino Creativity,” reflects the importance of having a common creative agenda to develop our creative industries. Through a unified creative agenda, Filipino creatives can sustain innovation, receive support, and spur development in their respective creative subsectors. This is true for creatives and artists from the visual arts, literature, music, audiovisual, digital media, design, performing arts, traditional expressions, etc.

We are gathered here today to celebrate the enactment of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Act, which our champions – Congressman Toff de Venecia and Senator Loren Legarda – have deeply elaborated on earlier. More importantly, this occasion is an opportunity for us to lay down our concrete plans, projects, and programs that will give life to the spirit of PCIDA.

Indeed, thanks to PCIDA, the DTI, in partnership with other key government agencies, now carries a strong, solid, and clear mandate to address the constraints of the creative industries and launch our creative enterprises and creative workers on a higher growth path in the domestic and international markets.

Be assured that the DTI, as Chair of the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council, is firmly committed to advancing the implementation of PCIDA.

We view the development of the creative economy as central to DTI’s industrialization and industrial transformation agenda through our Science, Technology, and Innovation-driven Industrialization Strategy.

The creative economy is a priority industry for the development of DTI, where we expect to create more and better jobs, set our people to higher incomes, and contribute to the country’s inclusive and sustainable economic growth and development.

As mentioned in the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2038, the creative economy is a core aspect of reinvigorating the country’s services sector.

But even beyond services, with all economic sectors now strongly linked with each other due to digital technologies, we will usher creativity not only in services but also in agriculture, manufacturing, and other industries, as creativity is a crucial component of driving industrial innovation.

To head start the implementation of PCIDA, we announced upon the signing of its IRR that the DTI would launch various programs and projects under the banner “Malikhaing Pinoy” or Creative Philippines, which we hope would be a unifying creative agenda that would encapsulate our push to develop more creative and talented Filipino workers and enterprises.

Malikhaing Pinoy is our holistic approach to addressing the constraints and barriers to the growth of the creative industries. It is a flagship initiative well-informed by the various sector-specific industry studies and roadmaps carried out by the DTI with support from our champions in Congress.

These research studies have identified the industries’ most binding constraints, which our proposed projects and programs will address.

First, of course, robust industry studies in many creative sub-sectors must be conducted. We also need to address the deficiencies in statistical data on the actual contribution of the creative industries to employment, trade, and the economy at large.

To allow us to measure the creative industries’ economic contributions accurately, we will continue working with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) to establish a well-defined and reliable statistical system through the Creative Industries Satellite Account.

In addition, we are on track with our work on industry studies and roadmaps for the creative sub-sectors of Architecture and Landscapes, eSports, Fashion and Textile, Furniture and Fixtures, Gifts, Decors, Housewares, Graphic Design, and Jewelry.

On this note, I am pleased to announce that we are now open to receiving proposals from experts who can work with the DTI in preparing these roadmaps. You may send your proposals to the email address flashed on the screen.

Second, as in other industries, creative enterprises and workers have limited access to capital, which is crucial in sustaining and expanding their operations.

Hence, we will establish the Creative Venture Fund, consistent with the goals of PCIDA, and shall be used to co-finance the business expansion of creative enterprises and individuals. In addition to this venture fund, financial support in the form of grants and soft loans is also being planned.

Third, our creative workers must be equipped with 21st-century skills and competencies to navigate the increasingly complex new technologies and their application in creative processes.

We plan to begin building the ENSAYO Creative Hub. This creative learning academy will be a co-working space where creative professionals and aspiring creatives can collaborate in a safe and creative space to share their ideas, pursue business development, and conduct networking.

Through the Hub, we will implement a series of Creative Capability Building Programs focusing on Animation and Game Development. We will offer courses on starting an animation and game development business, marketing and management, partnerships, and international opportunities.

Furthermore, to ensure that our workforce has the skills that match the requirements of jobs in the creative industries, we will expand the Philippine Skills Frameworks to be developed for the Creative Industries.

Two PSFs have been completed for the creative industries: Digital Arts and Animation and Game Development.

Fourth, to address the limited access to new technologies, we hope to pilot the establishment of Creative Innovation Centers, such as studios, co-working spaces, and pilot laboratories, where we can demonstrate the application of cutting-edge technologies, perform advanced research and development, and implement co-creation programs.

One good example is the Marikina NACIDA Incubator Facility being constructed with support from the Office of Congresswoman Stella Quimbo. The facility will incubate startups in various creative sub-sectors, such as shoe-making, furniture, handicrafts, jewelry, and weaving.

Together with the Asian Development Bank, we will foster a Creative Circuit in Marikina by launching programs aimed at increasing the level of technology of these creative sub-sectors and making Marikina a hotspot for creative startups.

Finally, we will offer a Creative Market Acceleration Program to enable our creative industries to grow their businesses, attract investments, and expand to foreign markets.

This year, we will work with the Game Development Association of the Philippines (GDAP) to conduct aggressive trade and investment promotions to capture market opportunities in the global game development industry. We intend to participate in the External Development Summit (XDS), the only annual international games industry event on the development of art, animation, audio, and software engineering, among others.

In addition, to increase the international exposure of our local animators, we will elevate the country’s participation in the Annecy International Animation Film Festival.

We are also preparing a Startup Incubation Program for game development startups, which we will connect to Vancouver – a game development hotspot in Canada with over 300 game development studios.

Indeed, the effective implementation of all these initiatives requires a whole-of-nation approach and strong cooperation and collaboration mechanisms. As such, we will immediately convene the Philippine Creative Industries Development Council and the Secretariat to head start the implementation of PCIDA and the Malikhaing Pinoy Program.

Furthermore, the DTI and the Council will closely work with the Office of the Presidential Adviser on Creative Communications (OPACC), led by Secretary Paul Soriano, to spearhead initiatives that will develop the creative economy.

We will work with Secretary Soriano on various strategic collaborative activities that will extend the reach of Malikhaing Pinoy to as many stakeholders as possible.

Because ultimately, cooperation and collaboration between and among the government, industries, the academe, and development partners will be the powerful force that will

drive the progress and success of Malikhaing Pinoy towards achieving the aspirations embodied in the PCIDA.

While the task at hand is colossal and may seem formidable, our willingness to join hands in shaping the future of our country gives me comfort and confidence that the best is about to happen for the Philippine creative industries.

With that, I join everyone in declaring that the country’s FUTURE is … CREATIVE.

Maraming Salamat po, Mabuhay ang Pilipino, at Mabuhay ang Malikhaing Pinoy!

Date of release: 07 March 2023