CULTURAL & CREATIVE INDUSTRY BACKGROUNDER   AN INEVITABLE TREND “Creative economy” has been taken as one of the major projects each country works on to strengthen its competitiveness, which indicates that “Cultural & Creative Industries” will become the trend in the future. These “industries without smokestacks”, or “knowledge-based industries”, turn experiences into great memories, and ideas into fortune and job opportunities.   Noted futurist Alvin Toffler once predicted that creative and cultural industries would become the dominant sector in the world economy, that whoever takes the high ground of creativity can take the world, as creativity will be the force controlling the 21st century economic lifeline. These "chimneyless" industries that turn experience into pleasurable memories, and creativity into fortune as well as career opportunities are indeed the hottest and most environment-conscious sector which thrive the knowledge-based economy!   According to "Copyright Industries in the U.S. Economy: The 2006 Report", published by the International Intellectual Property Alliance in January 2007, the value of U.S.'s copyright industries in 2005 has increased to USD1 trillion 388.1 billion. This value is equivalent of 11.12% of the US GDP, contributing as much as 23.78% of overall economic growth. Cultural industries outperformed traditional industries to create more than 11 million job opportunities for the country, as Hollywood films, television programs produced by the three major networks, and popular music under the Time Warner group spread throughout the world to lead global fashion and style trends with an influence comparable to Wall Street's financial power.   Table 1: Index of the Development of Cultural & Creative Industries in Leading Countries Country Production Value in GDP (%) Workforce Percentage (%)   Before Adjustment After Adjustment Before Adjustment After Adjustment Taiwan(2006) 2.59 3.16 2.06 2.06 U.S.(2005) 11.12 6.56 8.49 4.03 U.K.(2005) 8.10 4.53 2.54 1.27 South Korea(2004) 6.37 5.83 2.03 2.00 Australia(2000) 3.30 2.93 3.80 3.80 New Zealand (2001) 3.10 1.69 3.60 2.34 Hong Kong (2005) 4.00 4.00 4.89 3.9 China (2006) 2.45 2.45 1.48 1.48 Source: Office for the Promotion of Cultural and Creative Industries, Ministry of Economic Affairs   Note 1: Data on Taiwan is estimated by the Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research, where the production value and workforce size are calculated using figures from only 12 and 8 out of the 13 creative and cultural industries, respectively; as a result, the percentage of production value in GDP and workforce percentage are likely to have been underestimated. Note 2: Some fine-tuning was done to ensure a better match between the industry categories of different countries:  Taiwan's production value includes figures from the online game, computer animation and audio-visual application industry. The software and computer service industry is excluded from the figures for the U.K., Australia and New Zealand. The U.S. figure incorporated the core copyright industries only. With respect to Hong Kong, the workforce figure excludes those in the software and computer service industry. The production value of individual industries in the creative and cultural sector in Hong Kong and China is unavailable; hence no adjustment is made to the industry categories to the percentage of production value in GDP respectively. The character/icon industry value is excluded from the figure of South Korea.   TAIWAN: THE WORLD’S No. 2 INNOVATIVE ABILITY & No.1 PATENT PRODUCTIVITY According to the Switzerland-based Institute for Management Development’s World Competitiveness Report 2006, Taiwan’s competitive strength comes from its outstanding Hi-Tech infrastructure, business management, and labor force. The astonishing number of patented technologies developed by Hi-Tech sector makes Taiwan a world leader in patent productivity. Taiwan’s economy is made up mainly of small and medium-sized enterprises, which are known for their mobility and creativity. This has made Taiwan’s companies relatively strong in the ability to adjust themselves to the needs of the market.   TAIWAN: SPRINGBOARD TO CHINESE-SPEAKING MARKETS Taiwan's design industry is ahead of Hong Kong and China, acquiring a total of 133 awards in the world's four major design competitions: iF, Reddot, G-Mark and IDEA in 2007.  Taiwan shares many similar characteristics in culture and language with other Chinese-speaking areas, giving it a competitive advantage in these markets. Its background puts it in a perfect position to tap into China’s rising market. It provides freedom for capital flow and information exchanges, allowing it to link up with world trends, pushing Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries to the top.   ABUNDENT TALENTS Taiwanese workers are famous for being industrious, pragmatic, careful, and passionate to their work, sticking to professional ethics, and enjoying innovation. These characteristics are the niche for Taiwan to develop cultural and creative industries.    Cultural and creative industries in Taiwan are mainly small and medium sized solely-owned or joint-venture enterprises, which have the strengths of flexible creativity, fast mobility, and efficient executive ability. They show their creativity in continuously developing new products, their mobility in rapidly responding to market demands, and executive ability in putting ideas into actions and products as soon as possible. These are the advantages for Taiwan’s cultural and creative industries to actively develop in both the country and the rest of the world.