"Creative Thailand" to debut

       The government will officially kick off by the end of this month its "Creative Thailand" strategy, an ambitious plan to double the value of the country's creative industries in the service sector to 1.8 trillion baht by 2012.
       Deputy Commerce Minister Alongkorn Ponlaboot said the government would allocate 20.13 billion baht from its 1.43-trillion-baht second economic stimulus package to the strategy.
       The budget would go to 15 pilot industries including entertainment, software, tourism, education, food and textile.
       Under the Creative Thailand policy,the government has set its sights on raising revenue contributions from creative industries in the service sector to 1.8 trillion baht by 2012, or at least 20%of the country's gross domestic product,from 10% or 900 billion baht today.
       According to Mr Alongkorn, the budget would be made available to business sectors relating to creative economy from upstream to downstream.
       The government is also committed to investing in research and development for creative industries, marketing and commercial activities and to upgrading intellectual property management.
       The cabinet last month approved the first national intellectual property strategy including the transformation of state agencies into public organisations to ensure flexible and independent management, similar to the structure of private companies.
       Under the plan, each new public organisation would include an independent board of directors, business units, and service units to handle customer requests.
       The existing Intellectual Property Centre will be upgraded to the Creative Thailand Institute and action plans and activities will be worked out to underline co-operation with related government agencies and units.
       The action plan and activities will cover the three core parts of a creative economy, including a plan to develop and promote potential projects and products in each region and development of 15 focused industrial sectors such as film, music, lifestyle, culture and arts,and the food business.