THE government is seeking to heighten its intellectual-property (IP) protection of creative assets as part of efforts to sustain the Philippines as the top creative economy in Southeast Asia.
According to Anthony B. Rivera, assistant director of the Department of Trade and Industry’s Export Marketing Bureau, the government will intensify its IP protection of creative assets to strengthen the country’s case as the leading Southeast Asian creative economy. He argued it is important that works of local creators are protected to keep them valuable in the global market.
“Our creative services were known globally as pioneering in voice and nonvoice. At the same time, we are in the stage where we are encouraging—and that is why we are connecting with the industry development [groups]—coming up with our own IP assets. We want films, games and animations that are originally ours,” Rivera said in a recent interview with reporters.
“One vital factor that will come into play there is the essence of intellectual-property protection. [This is the reason] we are working on this as part of the priority of the industry,” he added.
Rivera said his agency is collaborating with the Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines for the faster processing of IP documents for creative assets.
Under the draft creative economy road map, the Philippines is envisioned to become the top creative economy among Association of Southeast Asian Nation (Asean) member-states by 2030. Crafted by the Creative Economy Council of the Philippines (CECP), the road map covers six cultural domains, namely, cultural and natural heritage; performance and celebration; visual arts and artisan products; books and press; broadcast and interactive media; and creative services.
“By 2030 the Philippines will be the No. 1 creative economy in Asean in terms of size and value of our creative industries, as well as the competitiveness and attractiveness of our creative talent and content in international markets,” the draft road map read.
In a copy of the draft road map seen by the BusinessMirror, the CECP wants the government to put up at least 10 special economic zones for creative industries by 2030. It also intends to register five Philippine cities in the Unesco Creative Cities Network.
Manila exported $915.45 million of creative goods in 2014, a jump of nearly 18 percent from $775.83 million in 2005, according to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report titled, “Creative Economy Outlook: Trends in International Trade in Creative Industries.”
Design goods accounted for the largest share of the figure at $279 million, followed by interior design at $221 million and toys and jewelry combined at $116 million. In 2014 the United States was the top destination of Philippine creative goods exports with $472.56 million, trailed by Japan with $136.03 million, China with $38.45 million, Italy with $30.73 million and Germany with $22.56 million.