The link between creativity and industry has never been stronger than right now. New technologies and increasingly sophisticated media have seen the scope for creativity in the workplace expand exponentially.

This is particularly the case in advanced and high-cost economies such as Hong Kong with its emphasis on service industries. Information technology, computer graphics, advertising and filmmaking to name but a few, require new skills and offer a greatly enhanced range of opportunities for companies and individuals skilled enough to grab them.

Susanna Lee, director of the art school at the Hong Kong Arts Centre, cites a government study on the link between creative industries and the knowledge-based society. Called the Baseline Study, it was carried out in 2001 but only released last year. The study, the first to clearly define the significance of the sector to Hong Kongs economy, showed that creative industries constituted 3.8 per cent of GDP and employed 167,100 people.

Meanwhile, according to the Hong Kong Trade Development Councils 2001 figures, creative industries accounted for 3.7 per cent of Hong Kongs total employment and 3.1 per cent of its services exports.

Central to Hong Kongs development of this sector is the Hong Kong Arts School. Formerly the Education Department of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, the school is a vital resource for companies which rely on creativity as a resource. Hong Kongs creative industries are really just beginning when compared to London and New York, says Lee. We need more money and manpower. We now have the educational facilities in place, but it will take time to filter into the economy.

It was in the UK that the link between creative industries and the knowledge-based society was first made, says Lee. The US, Europe and New Zealand and many Asian countries soon followed suit, encouraging the development of their own industries. People have come to gradually realize the correlation between knowledge-based societies and creative industries, Lee adds. At 3.8 per cent of GDP, Hong Kongs creative industries may be smaller relative to the overall economy than in the UK (creative industries accounted for 7.9 per cent of GDP in the UK at the time when the Baseline study was carried out), but Hong Kong is still regarded as a key regional centre for creativity.

Creative industries was originally defined in the UK in 1997 to include those industries which have their origin in individual creativity, skill and talent and which have a potential for wealth and job creation through the generation and exploitation of intellectual property. Thus it can include advertising; architecture; arts/antiques/crafts; design; digital entertainment; film & video; music; performing arts, publishing & printing; comics; music; software & computing and television & radio. And it involves some of the most dynamic and recent additions to the modern economy. Some of the worlds most famous brands were originally products of just such skills. Even IT is a creative industry, says Lee. Microsoft Windows is perhaps being one of the best-known examples of a successful fusion of creativity and professional skill.

The link between creative industries and the knowledge-based society is central to the governments ambitious plan to turn Hong Kong into the regional leader in this sector. To develop a knowledge-based society, you need to nurture its creative side, says Lee.

The knowledge based society has evolved to describe the explosion of information circling us in the modern world. Increasingly, functioning effectively in our modern world requires relatively high levels of skills with, for example, computers, the Internet and wireless communications.

Countries which manage to steal a march on certain types of creative industries through innovation, can quickly corner the market. For instance, Hong Kongs hugely successful Canto-pop music industry has positioned itself at the centre of two burgeoning markets South East Asia and China. Hong Kong is also traditionally strong in the advertising, film and television industries witness Maggie Cheungs recent success at Cannes Film Festival. But holding on to home-grown talent is equally as important as producing it in the first place, says Lee, citing the flow of Hong Kong filmmaking and acting talent leaving for Hollywood.

The CEPA (Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement) has also given a significant boost to the Hong Kong film industry by lifting the quota restrictions on the number of foreign films released on the mainland.

But the mainland market, though lucrative, is not without its drawbacks. Censorship would mean that one of Hong Kongs favourite film subjects, stories about the Hong Kong triads, would find Chinese censors most unsympathetic, especially as the mainland is currently clamping down on the proliferation of hugely popular TV crime dramas which are said by the authorities to portray modern China in a negative light.

Lee stresses that art school students are taught to apply their education to professional occupations.

We teach our students an ability to understand the world with an emphasis on professional development, says Lee. Students are encouraged to join internships at design houses, production houses or to visit the sets of films to get hands-on experience in their chosen industry.

The programmes range from foundation levels and diplomas, to postgraduate degree levels in Fine Arts, Applied Arts, Media Arts, Arts Education and Arts Management both on a full-time and part-time basis. Employers are very satisfied with the attitude of the students, who often reach supervisory level very quickly, she says.

But the competition is intense with other East Asian countries also positioning themselves as creative centres. South Korea is fast developing as a world-class digital entertainment/computer games centre.

According to a report carried out by the Economist, the craze for online gaming has seen South Koreas largest online games operator NCsoft earn an operating profit of 77 billion won (US$62 million) on overall revenues of 155 billion won, This constitutes a profit margin of almost 50 per cent.

In other sectors, Japanese and South Korean television programming is also making an impact regionally; as is Thailand.

The development of these industries has not been lost on the mainland, where moves are afoot to develop traditionally dynamic centres of business, like Shanghai and Guangzhou, into centres of creative talent. Though this will not be without its difficulties, it is essential for the development of genuine creative talent that people have unhindered access to different sources and influences. It is very noticeable when this is not the case, says Lee.

With its superb infrastructure, technologically aware population and its leading edge in some creative industries, Hong Kong is well positioned to build upon what some believe is a promising start.

For creative industries to thrive, you need a sound basis, especially with regard to a legal framework to protect creativity and inventions. If there are not adequate IPR laws, and equally importantly, the adequate implementation of these laws, then ideas are not secure and the industry will never prosper.

(HK Edition 05/28/2004 page16)