THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced that a P20-million fund for 2023 was created to jumpstart startups in the creative industry.
“We’re starting with P20 million; this is just for the year and the plan is just to jumpstart the whole process,” DTI Undersecretary for Competitiveness and Innovation Group Rafaelita M. Aldaba told reporters on the sidelines of the 2nd Philippine Creative Industries Summit in Pasay City last March 7.
Aldaba said the DTI assembled the fund together with the National Development Co. (NDC).
“We’ll just continue that program with NDC but, this time, the fund is going to be dedicated to creative startups,” she added.
The Trade undersecretary said the initiative called “Creative Venture Fund” (CVF) can either be in the form of a “co-investment, partnership and some other forms of collaboration with other partners from the startup community.”
According to Aldaba, it’s the NDC, not the DTI, which has the mandate for the creation of the CVF.
In a separate chance interview, Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said “the initial plan was to start with P500 million but we didn’t get the funding yet.”
Pascual said the funding will come from appropriation.
“It’s a one-time (allocation); mayroon initial. And then we have to deploy the funds. If we need more, then we ask for additional funding,” the Trade chief added.
Access to capital
IN his speech during the summit, Pascual said that the CVF is consistent with the goals of Republic Act (RA) 11904 (Philippine Creative Industries Development Act) and “shall be used to co-finance the business expansion of creative enterprises and individuals.”
On top of this venture fund, he said financial support in the form of grants and soft loans is also being planned.
Pascual added the initiative is based on government’s view that access to capital is “crucial” in sustaining and expanding the operations of creative enterprises.
He believes RA 11904 will help address the “constraints” of the creative industries and launch the country’s creative enterprises and creative workers “on a higher growth path in the domestic and international markets.”
According to Pascual, among the initiatives of the Trade department in relation to the development of the creative industries is to measure its economic contributions “accurately.”
In doing so, he said the DTI 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 a “Creative Industries Satellite Account.”