The Creative Economy in Indonesia

This is something I wrote for somewhere else. The original of this can be found at http://en.hukumonline.com.

The creative economy is in essence a focus on the creative industries and the contributions that they may make to the overall national economy. The government has finally realized that the creative economy holds very real and very large potential for the future development of Indonesia. The benefits of Indonesia’s creative talents are yet to be fully exploited. Nevertheless, in an attempt to better exploit theses resources the President has issued a Presidential Instruction, No. 5 of 2009, which sets out what is expected and how the stipulated goals are to be achieved.

The instruction covers the period from 2009 – 2015. The overall program will be based on a Creative Economy Policy. Then, this will require a comprehensive annual program to be devised and then carried out for each year. The first of these, 2009, is to be Creative Indonesia Year. The instruction is addressed to all the relevant ministers, the heads of all the relevant institutions, and all of Indonesia’s governors, regents and mayors.

The creative industries that form the creative economy are listed at point two. These include, among others, the following:
• Advertising;
• Arts and antiques;
• Handicrafts;
• Fashion;
• Film, video, and photography;
• Architecture;
• Music;
• Performance art; and
• Radio and television.

The instruction also establishes a Coordination Team for the Development of the Creative Economy and who is on the team. Furthermore, the instruction establishes a Secretariat and relevant Working Groups that are to assist the Team in the performance of their tasked duties. The Team is required to report at least every six months. However, the president can demand reports at any time and the Team will be required to furnish the requested report.

In addition, any budget expenses required in the fulfillment of these provisions will be allocated to the central and regional government budgets as required.

The instruction includes a detailed Attachment. This attachment sets out all of the objectives of the creative economy and who is responsible for seeing certain aspects of the program carried out.

The Instruction has been in force since 5 August 2009.