Dear Excellency, Chair of the Cabinet of Ministers of the Kyrgyz Republic, Akylbek Usenbekovich

Dear Mr Amanaliev, Dear Hosts, Distinguished Guests,

Distinguished Creators and Innovators!

I am so pleased to participate on this auspicious occasion and wholeheartedly congratulate the instigators on today’s official launch of the Park of Creative Industries. This is a pivotal moment for the advancement of Kyrgyzstan’s economy and comes as the result of efforts of many stakeholders. We commend the government for its foresight and strategic stance in supporting the creative economy and creating favorable conditions for its growth.

From UNDP’s side, we are proud of our collaboration with the Association of Creative Industries – together we have launched and brought to scale the CREATE4 platform over the past year. Our aim was to unite creators and to promote the national brand of “ZHARATMAN KYRGYZSTAN” and we are so excited to see the rapid growth of this enthusiastic community. 

The Park of Creative Industries will provide a fertile environment for creative entrepreneurs and mobilise a range of economic opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses, with real opportunities for women and youth. The tax incentive will play a critical role in creating jobs in the formal economy and will help to reduce the insecurity associated with the informal sector. 

According to UN data, cultural and creative industries provide around 6 per cent of all employment and generates nearly 50 million jobs worldwide. They employ more young people than any other sector and jobs in these industries favor women and youth. This, together with the positive impact for social cohesion and local development, place creative industries as crucial sectors for the accelerating achievement of the 2030 development goals by the Kyrgyz Republic.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Park of Creative industries is a unique public-private-people partnership and we hope it will attract the innovative talents of people in Kyrgyzstan, attract creative startups from other places in hte world, and stimulate the demand for innovative finance and venture capital, as well as increase the supply of export-oriented products.

UNDP in the Kyrgyz Republic has developed a next-phase programme to assist the government and private sector in further growing the creative ecosystem, improving enabling regulations, increasing access to finance and markets and empowering youth, women and people with disabilities with equitable access to skills. We will continue to leverage creative economy for local development and scale up community-based clusters with inclusive jobs. 

Let me once again extend our heartfelt congratulations to all of you on this significant milestone in the development of the creative economy in the Kyrgyz Republic. And we look forward to joining hands in supporting innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship.

Chon rakhmat!