Nusa Dua, Bali (ANTARA News) - The first World Conference on Creative Economy (WCCE) was officially opened by Triawan Munaf, head of the Indonesian Agency for Creative Economy (Bekraf) here, Wednesday.

"I hope that the creative economy industry would be able to become a catalyst for global economic growth. Let us be ready, and we hope the world would collaborate to build a better ecosystem for creative economy," Munaf noted in his opening remarks while calling on the audience to sing Queen`s "We Will Rock You" during the opening ceremony.

WCCE is being held in Bali on Nov 7-8 to discuss issues and challenges pertaining to the creative economy.

Organized by Bekraf in collaboration with the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting is being attended by delegates from over 40 countries and two thousand participants.

Bearing the theme of "Inclusively Creative," Indonesia is keen to convey a message to the world that creative economy has the potential to become the main driver of the country`s economic growth. Creative economy resources come from human ideas that will never run out as long as human beings continue to exist.

"Inclusively creative must give opportunities to everyone. In the current global era, creative economy must be accessible by anyone and anywhere," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Retno L. P. Marsudi stated.

The minister emphasized the need for technology and creativity to collaborate through innovation for the creative economy that can contribute to the national economy and make people prosperous.

On Tuesday (Nov 6), Bekraf and the United Nations Development Program jointly organized a national dialogue, as series of the first WCCE, to discuss the challenges and opportunities for social entrepreneurship and startups of entrepreneurs as one of the solutions in developing the creative economy ecosystem in Indonesia.

"Why the Inclusively Creative theme? We want to build a common understanding and ground to develop the economy globally. Hence, the main key to developing a creative economy is collaboration," Munaf stated on Tuesday.

The collaboration is to be carried out regardless of age, gender, educational background, religion, or geographical location.

The three-day event began with Friends of Creative Economy, which involved the participation of delegations from various countries, academics, creative actors, communities, and media to discuss and formulate the Bali Declaration to be brought to the UN General Assembly next year.

The conference also presents more than 20 world-renowned figures in the creative world as speakers at the conference.

The speakers include Emmy Award-Winning Director Lisa Russel, Moonton (Mobile Legend) CEO and Co-founder Justin Yuan, Net Mediatama Television CEO and Co-founder Wihsnutama Kusubandio, China Film Group Corporation President Le Kexi, and Tokopedia CEO William Tanuwijaya.

Several global creative products, such as Disney, Grab, TikTok, Shopee, Potato Head, Bukalapak, and Mobile Legend, are also being featured at an event called Creativillage.

In addition, Bekraf`s flagship programs were presented in an effort to develop and strengthen national ecosystems at the event.

Among the flagship programs are Akatara, Indonesian film financing forum where creative actors in the film industry meet with investors; Bekraf Developer Day, an event that brings together application developers; and Unity in Diversoto, a program to introduce the diverse types of Indonesian traditional soup called soto to the international community.



Reporting by Sella Panduarsa Gareta
Editing by Fardah Assegaf

Reporter: Antara
Editor: Yosep Hariyadi
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