Creative industry burgeons

Costa Rica exported $160 million in creative goods, according to the United Nation’s Creative Economy Report 2008, which studied this industry’s movement between 1996 and 2005.

Furthermore, national exports are insignificant when compared to the $454 billion exchanged in the creative economy worldwide during the same period, steered by China that year.Although Costa Rica has made important progress in this field, for example, through software production and publicity services, the Government has begun to take its first steps to try to solidly link itself to this lucrative trend.The actions are focused on incorporating the audiovisual production and design sectors into the national and international markets.

The Foreign Trade Ministry (Comex) and the Ministry of Youth, Sport and Culture (MCJ) declared audiovisual production and design to be of public interest since last year, emitting decrees to facilitate the development in the country and training people from the sector on how to market creative goods.Along these lines, María Elena Carballo, minister of Culture, assured that during the next few weeks they will request an agreement with the Parque Tec business incubator, to boost Costa Rican film and design.

The creative industry is made up of companies whose businesses merge the use of art, culture, business and technology throughout the creation, production and distribution of goods and intellectual capital services.Together, these businesses compose what, in 2001, was tagged the “creative economy”, which between 1996 and 2005 grew at an average 8.7% rate, making it the fastest growing industry in the world.In the meantime, other emerging cultural industries in the country have been left out of the plans aimed at producing businessmen and women in creative services like storytelling, traditional dancing, and music, to name a few sectors that may become relevant as exploitable cultural wealth for the tourism sector.

However, according to the viceminister of Culture, Laura Pacheco, the process of preparing producers and designers to be businessmen and women will be applied to other disciplines in the future.Emmanuel Hess, general manager of the Foreign Trade Promoter, mentioned that they are searching for business opportunities for architectural design and construction services in Panama, where there is a positive perception of Costa Rican work.A recipe for growthCosta Rica obtained second place at a Central American level in creative industry exports.

Guatemala heads the list, for the first time and since 2005, with $200 million worth of exports.Aside from the need to create a plan that will link more creative disciplines in an interdisciplinary manner, egalitarian access to new technologies and intellectual property are fundamental in order industrialize ideas, say the United Nations.Access to broadband Internet connections, in the country, is unequal. About 51% of the Central Region has access to these systems whereas only 39.89% of the Atlantic Huetar region has the same possibility.

According to Alexander Mora, president of the Chamber of Information Technologies and Communications, the creative industry requires access to broadband connection.The area of intellectual property has seen some improvements after some reforms in 2008, according to Nestor Morera, specialist in the subject. These include a 70% reduction in the cost to register patents on part of natural persons, SMEs and scientific research institutions, among others.Morera suggests implementing and improving laws to protect trade secrets, test data and new plant varieties.