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GOVERNMENTS around the world must be able to invest in digital and financial literacy efforts, and be able to provide access and assistance to new markets and economies to respond to modern challenges.
According to the Minister of Tourism and Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, while attending and being the opening speaker of the “Creative Industries and Trade Digitization Forum” which is part of the 15th Quadrenial Conference of the United Nations Agency for Trade and Development (UNCTAD) or UNCTAD15, which was held online from Barbados, Wednesday (9/9) evening WIB said governments around the world should invest in digital and financial literacy, as well as provide access and assistance to new markets and economies.
The UNCTAD Quadrenial Conference15 is a regular UNCTAD conference that gathers various layers of world stakeholders in the fields of trade and development. After being postponed for a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the implementation of UNCTAD15 this year also coincides with the momentum of the 2021 International Year of the Creative Economy for Sustainable Development, which was initiated by Indonesia and supported by UNCTAD and 81 co-sponsor countries.
Sandiaga explained, currently there are several modern challenges that occur. Such as the widening digital divide in the world and the changing mode of work towards digitization which opens up opportunities for further exploitation.
Therefore, he continued, apart from investing in digital and financial literacy, protection of privacy, health, and social safety nets for creative and digital workers is also needed. The digital working mode opens up opportunities for exploitation. The line between ‘home’ and ‘office’ is getting blurry, with unreasonable working hours. It damages our physical and mental health. In addition, creative workers also have the opportunity to be underpaid on many occasions.
“With increasingly uncertain conditions, the government must and needs to be on the side of these workers. In the issue of creative industries and trade digitization, digital trade provides opportunities for creative workers and the government at large. Where artists can show their work and protect its authenticity through Non-fungible Tokens (NFT). Governments can also start embracing blockchain to practice fair and transparent governance and accountability,” said Sandiaga.
He added, these words may seem futuristic, but here’s the thing, our future is already in front of us. Like it or not.
At the end of his speech, Minister Sandiaga quoted one of the Barbados proverbs, namely ‘One Hand Can’t Clap’, which means that active cooperation and collaboration is needed to solve all problems. Therefore, he invites all parties to collaborate so that the world is prosperous.
“This is the time for all of us to work together, move forward together, survive together, for a prosperous world, together,” he concluded.
On the same occasion, the Secretary General of UNCTAD, Rebeca Grynspan, conveyed the importance of inclusive and broad digital investment.
“Rapid social change often affects the creative industries. We must invest in digital infrastructure and it must be implemented in an inclusive manner. It is crucial for the world to move towards a new normal, and countries must adopt it according to their development feasibility,” said Rebeca who was sworn in as Secretary General at the beginning of last September.
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Barbados, Mia Mottley, as the host of UNCTAD15 emphasized that technology and digitization are tools for the world to maintain the continuity of culture and creativity.
“Creative and Cultural Industries are things that make human beings fully human. If we want to transform a nation, we must start and end with creativity, culture, and education,” Mia concluded. [traveltext.id]
