Creative industries can boost the economy

In the last five years of economic turmoil, politicians and economists often disagreed on the economic tactics required to restore normality in European economies. But one thing they agree on is that only through sustained economic growth can economies regain their formal strength to generate jobs and guarantee a decent quality of life to most people.

Political leaders, economists and entrepreneurs are busily searching for the ideal investment that will create sustainable jobs and economic growth. Every country has strengths and weaknesses and the identification of the best opportunities for promoting growth needs to be preceded by a painstaking exercise to ensure that the investment promotion exercise has the best chance of success.

In the pre-Budget document 2013 it is stated that Malta Enterprise will “focus its investment promotion efforts on the development of growth of high value-added sectors” including the “creative sciences! This statement was followed by a draft strategy for creative industries that has just been published by Finance Minster Tonio Fenech and Tourism Minster Mario de Marco.

Creative industries are sometimes defined as “those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent, which have a potential for job and wealth creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property”. These industries include advertising, architecture, art, culture and antiques, computer games, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and TV and radio. The list is, however, not exclusive.

In Malta, these industries already employ 8,000 people in 3,600 micro enterprises.

Countries like Britain are actively promoting investment in such industries. Malta too can make investment in creative industries one of its main objectives as it has undoubted strengths in this area. But, as rightly stated in the strategic document, more needs to be done to fire the imagination of investors, potential employees and the public on the attractiveness of these industries.

Arguably, few people outside the Malta Enterprise circles understand the contribution the creative industries could make to the economy, even if they value the products of the creative industries in terms of what they can offer to the quality of their lives. Similarly, few investors really understand the profitable opportunities that may exist in these industries.

While most students and their parents have heard about and understand the potential of studying to work in the ICT, pharmaceutical and electronic gaming industries, many are probably not sufficiently informed on the career paths that could be offered to those preparing themselves for working in the creative industries. So a general educational campaign may be needed to inform the public about such opportunities.

Another bottleneck that may hinder the growth of these industries is the availability of finance to help creative enterprises to take off. Various attempts have been made over the last two decades to launch a sustainable venture capital scheme as commercial banks are often reluctant to lend money to new enterprises with no proven track record of success. There may be a case for specific government guaranteed financing in the first years of setting up such businesses. Without such support, good creative ideas may never evolve to become tangible successful businesses.

Finally, the educational system needs to be fine tuned to prepare students to acquire the skills needed for employment in this sector. The creative industries’ potential for generating economic growth is real but calls for good planning.