Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) 7 Director Asteria Caberte, during the “Multi-Stakeholder Briefing and Media Tour” held in Bohol, said access to funding, especially for start-ups, is one of the action plans by the DTI and concerned government agencies to promote and grow the creative industry.

She also encouraged stakeholders in Bohol to begin looking at the opportunities in the creative industry saying that the province also has a potential to develop its own industry because of the province’s rich culture, music and arts.

Emerging group

“Banks now should be aware that this sector is an emerging group. In fact in Cebu, this group is strongly organized and one way to help them further grow is to provide them easy access to funds,” said Caberte. “However, we’ve observed that funds are not readily available to them. We believe they should also get assistance just like what other sectors have been enjoying.”

The Creative Cebu Council covers visual arts, furniture, fashion, architecture, print, interactive, music, performing arts, motion pictures and culinary arts.

Other help

Aside from providing them access to capital, other measures pointed out during the Regional Development Council meeting include establishing continuing education program, harmonizing industry policies, providing full support to emerging talents, continued education of the sectors about funding opportunities and lobbying for government support to give emphasis on culture.

The Creative Cebu Council is a non-profit group composed of artists and creative entrepreneurs who have bonded together to promote, develop and champion the creative industries sector in Cebu.

The potential of Cebu’s creative sector was confirmed following the proclamation of Cebu by the British Council as the “Creative City” a couple of years back.

DTI Cebu Province has been actively implementing programs to boost the creative sector by linking them to state-owned funding institution SB Corporation, the financial arm of the DTI.

It asked the SB Corporation to include the sector in its priority list of beneficiaries.

More competitive

“Making funds readily available to them will enrich the potential of the sector, allowing players to be more competitive in the global market,” Navarro said in earlier interviews.

The European Chamber of Commerce in the Philippines (ECCP) also said that if Cebu will be able to position itself as the creative capital of the country, it will open doors to overseas Filipino artists to come home, which will benefit the economy.

The chamber supported the creation of a Design Council Bill or the Philippine Design Competitiveness Act (RA 10557), which is meant to enhance the competitiveness and innovation of Philippine products and create market-responsive design services, while advocating for economic and environmental sustainability.

Source: Sun Star Cebu