Indonesia’s creative economy ranks third in GDP contribution

Fashion is the creative economy sub-sector with the highest contribution to GDP in Indonesia. (Photo: VNA)

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesia’s creative economy industry has been ranked third in the world in terms of its contribution to the national GDP, said an Indonesian minister during a webinar for pushing half a million new exporters in Jakarta earlier this week.

The United States is currently ranked first with its Hollywood film industry, followed by the Republic of Korea with its K-Pop industry, Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy Sandiaga Salahuddin Uno said.

Fashion has so far remained the creative economy sub-sector with the highest contribution, 9 billion USD, to Indonesia’s GDP, the minister informed. Meanwhile, the handicrafts industry contributes 4.9 billion USD and the culinary industry 1 billion USD, he added.

The culinary industry's contribution to the GDP is relatively low, Uno observed. As a matter of fact, Indonesia has a variety of national foods, including rendang, the scrumptious meat dish from West Sumatra, crowned the Best Food in CNN's World's 50 Best Foods, he noted.

He called for boosting the export of culinary products, saying it must be raised at least five times to catch up with fashion and handicrafts, which are growing significantly.

The Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy is running a programme to provide incentives to creative economic players in order to help them penetrate into export markets, he added./.

VNA