On March 13, 2018, Prime Minister Ana Brnabić welcomed a full house of stakeholders to Kinoteka, the Yugoslav Cinema Museum. to “Creative Serbia: the future is creative”, a conference on the creative sector in Serbia.

The “Creative Serbia: the future is creative” conference was the first event to signify the Prime Minister’s commitment to the development of this sector, which she has identified as one of her key policy priorities for her government.

The conference program raised some of the current challenges and constraints facing the sector, but also identified the scope of opportunities. It further began identifying some of the best ways for private-public collaboration in order to develop the sector in a sustainable way. Needs identified through a full day of interesting presentations and robust debate included:

-Effective coordination
-Team of experts to advise on policy to clarify needs
-Online & Physical Hubs to improve sector access
-An annual calendar of major creative industry events to assist in co-promotion
-Education and training to build skills
-Legislative reforms to improve business efficiency
-Local and International Marketing
-Funding & incentives to boost competitiveness

Creative industries in Serbia represent a huge economic potential – employing more than 100,000 inhabitants, of which almost 70% are between 25 and 44 years of age, and a large number are women. If we support it in the right way, this sector gives us the opportunity to create even more highly paid jobs, encourage the development of small and medium-sized enterprises and prevent the brain drain. In addition, creative industries can help us build a completely different picture of Serbia as a creative, innovative and digital country and thus contribute to the redefinition of our entire cultural diplomacy. Broadly speaking, creative industries also help us prepare for a new type of global economy characterized by new types of jobs, automation, and service exports.