Over the past five years, the creative sector’s potential to deliver significant growth to developing and transitional economies has been increasingly recognised and debated. Today, international agencies are considering how to facilitate these developments and ensure that the success of this sector, in developed countries, is reflected in patterns of development planning and enduring wealth and job creation in the developing world.

How do you go about building a sustainable and competitive creative economy? And what are the particular issues faced by developing and transitional economies? This seminar considers the changing nature of both the global and local creative economies. It will look at the wider impact of international cultural exchanges and how these affect cultural diversity, changes in patterns of distribution, the use of and access to new technology, and the challenge of establishing workable intellectual property regimes.

We hope to distil a sense of where next for the creative economy and to create a statement about the issues that creative businesses, national governments and international agencies need to reflect upon. This is essential if the creative economy is to be successfully nurtured and fully play its part in the economic prosperity of developing and transitional countries.

Who should attend this event
The seminar is open to participants from developing and transitional economies. Participants will be senior figures within government departments or national agencies dealing with the creative economy. They will include both experienced and young, highly-able, fast-track, civil servants, senior representatives of the creative sector: creative individuals, creative entrepreneurs or representatives of specialist agencies or professional practices or organisations supporting the development of the sector. Participants will be selected to reflect a balance between government agencies and the private sector.