The Philippines creative industries lost over 5,000 projects or 90 percent of businesses affecting more than 4,000 workers last year due to the pandemic, but the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said this sector is poised to become a key driver of Philippine trade in the coming years.
DTI Undersecretary Rafaelita Aldaba said during a virtual forum on Creative Industries said that a total of 5,549 projects were lost, adversely affecting independent businesses and creatives, who lost their “gigs” amidst the pandemic. The projects lost affected 4,458 workers.
DTI showed data from United Nation Conference on Trade and Development, which revealed that the country’s exports of creative services reached $5.605 billion 2019 from $5.433 billion in 2018. Exports of creative goods also reached $1 billion in 2019 from $960 million in 2018. The Philippines total creative trade in 2019 was pegged at $6.6 billion.
Of the country’s total creative trade, 83.7 percent were attributed to service exports largely due to IT and computer service exports which chalked the bulk at 81.7 percent. Design products were the main contributor to the country’s creative goods exports, which accounted for 16.6 percent of the country’s total trade in 2019. This includes outputs coming from artisanal and professional industries.
Despite the modest increase, Aldaba said, “We are growing relevance and contribution of the sector, which is poised to become a key driver of Philippine trade in the coming years.”
Aldaba cited the various tax perks for creative industries under the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises.
In ASEAN, Aldaba said that Philippines ranked first in creative services exports, fifth in total creative exports, and 10th in creative goods exports in the 2020 Global Innovation Index.