Scotland has a world-leading creative industries sector which has the talent, technology and the international reputation to succeed in the global marketplace, the Culture Minister will tell an audience of European delegates today.
Fiona Hyslop will address a conference on Europe’s creative industries, hosted at Scotland House in Brussels, during a two-day visit to the city. The event will be attended by policy makers and industry representatives from across the European Union. Speakers at the conference include the European Commission, Flanders District of Creativity and Creative Scotland.
Says Hyslop: “Scotland is one of the world’s most creative nations. Our global reputation as a place of innovation and imagination, our world-class higher and further education system, and our highly-talented workforce have helped establish our thriving creative industries sector.
“It supports about 63,000 jobs, generates an annual turnover of about £5.2 billion and, over the past decade, has grown more quickly than the Scottish economy as a whole.
“That is why it is one of the seven priority sectors in the Scottish Government’s economic strategy. We are committed to developing our creative industries by providing the right public sector support, through Creative Scotland, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Creative Industries Partnership.
“This innovative, collaborative approach is ensuring our creative industries are well placed to realise their economic potential at home and abroad and I am sure my colleagues across Europe will be interested to learn about the progress we are making, as we are interested in learning from the experiences of our European partners.
“The Scottish Government believes that strengthening cultural exchanges and international trade links will create an environment in which our creative industries can flourish.”
Adds Caroline Parkinson, Director of Creative Development at Creative Scotland: “The establishment of Creative Scotland provides Scotland with an unique opportunity to harness and drive forward the potential within our world-class creative industries. Collaborative working across the public sector ensures that resources are focused and directed at a flourishing creative sector, which in turn gives them a range of support services to help maximise their creative and economic potential. We are delighted to be here in Brussels to develop our collaborative approach with a range of new partners.”
Delegates at the conference will also be able to see a demonstration from the University of Abertay’s Dare to be Digital event, which involved teams of students designing and developing their own video games.
