Poor telecommunications and transportation infrastructure prevent the inclusion of
Philippine cities in the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (Unesco) network of “creative cities”.
Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez said the lack of these facilities is a major factor that prevents the inclusion of cities to be recognized by the Unesco as a creative city.
“We need to have good infrastructure, like in telecommunications. Internet infrastructure is critical, and even the physical infrastructure,” Lopez said on the sidelines of the opening of the Asean Creative Cities Forum and Exhibit held at the BGC Arts Center in Taguig City on Wednesday.
The Asean Creative Cities Forum and Exhibit explored the concept of creative cities as a country branding to help governments attract more tourists and investments.
“Cultural value, arts and creativity are beginning to be perceived with economic value,” Lopez said in his speech.
“The greater benefit is the revenue streams that can come out of those innovations, like if we produce a product that becomes famous and will become a revenue source for MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises],” he added.
The Unesco Creative Cities Network (UCCN) is a project launched in 2004 aimed at encouraging countries to harness creativity across seven sectors: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Music and Media Arts.
In Asean only Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia have cities included in the network.
The creative industries in the Philippines include furniture, information technology, arts and crafts, design, film, and art; together, these have at least a 10-percent contribution to the country’s GDP.
Given the obstacles in infrastructure, the Department of Trade and Industry said it is hesitant to submit Philippine cities for application to the UCCN.
Maria Rita Matute, deputy executive director for Value Creation and Promotions Department at the DTI’s Center for International Trade Expositions and Missions, said several local government units have expressed interest to have their locales recognized as creative cities. These include Cebu, Bulacan, Pampanga, Makati and Dumaguete.
However, Matute said they have not yet decided if these cities will be submitted to Unesco consideration, as critical infrastructure is still not in the entire Philippines.
In the absence of these “crucial factors”, Lopez said young entrepreneurs can still help the “creative” economy grow by supporting local,
cultural hubs.
The UCCN was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development.
The 116 cities that currently make up this network work together toward a common objective: placing creativity and cultural industries at the heart of their development plans at the local level, and cooperating actively at the international level.