Creative Economy at the UN General Assembly

The event was well attended with at least sixty guests seated for the keynote session and the following panel discussion.

The key themes that were covered included the:

• emergence of the creative economy and creative networks as an enabler for sustainable development;
• opportunities and threats posed by increased automation and digitization;
• need for training, retraining, and upskilling for new industry jobs;
• role of creative industries in promoting gender issues as well as diverse and marginalized views;
• disparities in creative economic growth depending on geographies;
• challenges of sharing lessons and practices between and among countries;
• need to integrate creative industries into national economic and development plans;
• huge potential for more South-South cooperation to leverage untapped potential.

Audience members, who came from within and outside the UN, echoed similar themes and concerns regarding developing creative industries.

The event set the stage for the upcoming World Conference on Creative Economy (WCCE), to be held 6-9 Nov. 2018 in Bali, Indonesia. UNCTAD fully supports Indonesia’s efforts to host the WCCE. Being, as it is, the first global conference on the creative economy, it stands as an exciting initiative on the part of the Indonesian government and an opportunity to showcase how the creative industries can foster economic growth, promote inclusivity and boost sustainable development. The endorsement of the conference by President Joko, and his firm belief in the future of Indonesia’s creative economy, sends a clear message to the trade and development community as a whole. In raising the profile of the creative economy, the conference will help to realize its potential and ensure its place on the global agenda.