[INTERVIEW] Colombia's culture minister looks forward to cooperation in the creative industries

 

Colombian Minister of Culture Angelica Mayolo, first row left, signs a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on creative industries with her counterpart Hwang Hee, first row right, at Cheong Wa Dae, Aug. 25. President of Colombia Ivan Duque, back row left, and President Moon Jae-in watch them sign the MOU after their summit talks. Yonhap

By Kwon Mee-yoo

The creative and cultural industries are one of the main pillars of Colombia's economy, as the Latin American country recognizes the importance of creativity and incentivizes related industries. Angelica Mayolo, Colombia's culture minister who visited Korea last week, accompanying Colombia's President Ivan Duque, explained how the country fosters creative industries in order to promote economic and social development.

"We believe that creativity and innovation are two essential elements for achieving social and economic development. And culture is part of this. This is why the Colombian government, with the leadership of our president, Ivan Duque, is committed to the promotion and deployment of the Orange Economy policy as a way to insert the country into the dynamics of the Fourth Industrial Revolution by encouraging the creation of goods and services based on creativity and innovation," Mayolo said during an interview with The Korea Times at the Four Seasons Hotel Seoul, Aug. 26.

Mayolo, 31, was a law major, but has various types of public service experience under her belt, including in the field of culture.

"I used to be the secretary of economic development in the city of Cali, working with a focus on creative industry. I worked to obtain the declaration of Cali as a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts. I also used to be an advisor to the High Council for Competitiveness and Strategic Projects of the Presidency, developing special programs for the Pacific region in the cultural area," she said.

The force driving Colombia's Orange Economy is its rich culture and history.

"We are a country with a very diverse cultural heritage. That is a fundamental instrument to our social and economic development. And also we realize that the nation does have important results in terms of quality of life. Focusing our objectives on innovation and creativity, the digital transformation is what we can do, being consistent with global ideas about the Fourth Industrial Revolution. We are also conscious that our potential is in our cultural and ethnic diversity," Mayolo said.

Under its "Orange Economy" policy, Colombia has put considerable effort into developing the creative industries, such as offering low-interest loans to start-ups and creative districts repurposing derelict urban areas.

"We have a very ambitious goal in terms of mobilizing resources to invest in the Orange Economy. Our goal is to mobilize $6 billion through the Orange Economy Council for the activities of the creative industry together with the public and private sectors. Since the beginning of our government in August 2018, we have achieved 85 percent of this goal," the minister explained.

"We are consolidating Colombia as the new Latin American hub for the development of creative industries, especially in the audiovisual sectors. We have been working very hard to implement economic incentives to bring to Colombia for investments in the audiovisual sector."

This photo shows a scene from the Korean film, "Bogota: City of the Lost," which was filmed in the Colombian capital and stars Song Joong-ki. Colombia aims to attract foreign investment in its creative industries, including filmmaking. Courtesy of Megabox Plus M

The effort includes keonhacai investment from abroad in the field of creative industries as well. Colombia sees Korea as a great partner for the field of the creative industries, so the minister signed a memorandum of understanding with her Korean counterpart, Hwang Hee, on culture, art and the creative industries during her visit to Korea.

"We're very excited to have the opportunity to be in Korea and experience all the advancements that this country has in the creative industries. (Korea) developed a strategy many years ago about how to use culture and the creative industries to foster the development of this country. This is also what we are doing with our Orange Economy strategy," she said.

"We see many opportunities in the relationship between Korea and Colombia. Basically, we want to learn from the audiovisual and game industries in Korea, by exploring new ways to upgrade our ties. We are interested in technological development applied to those sectors in order for us to increase our institutional capacities in promoting the creative economy."

During her visit, the minister met people from cultural institutions and companies such as the Korea Creative Content Agency, CJ Entertainment and Netmarble, reflecting Colombia's interest in cooperating with Korea in the film and game industries. Mayolo also paid a visit to Watermelon Pictures, a Korean film company that produced "Bogota: City of the Lost," a film named after and set in the capital city of Colombia.

"We showed them why Colombia has great conditions for developing audiovisual products. We have human capital, great locations ― Colombia is one of the countries with the highest level of biodiversity in the world ― and policies implemented to consolidate the country as a new hub in Latin America for creative industries," she said.

"We want to increase artistic and cultural exchange, promote the importance of protecting our cultural heritage and foster creative industries. We want to strengthen this relationship to have more Korean companies in Colombia, but also to have the opportunity to bring more art from Colombia to Korea."

Korea's First Lady Kim Jung-sook, left, and Colombian First Lady Maria Juliana Ruiz take a look at items of Korea's cultural heritage at the National Museum of Korea in Seoul, Aug. 26. Yonhap

With the high popularity of K-pop in Colombia, Minister Mayolo seeks to collaborate in the field of music as well.

"Korea has K-pop, which is very famous and has influenced its young population. We have Tropipop and Reggaeton, both of which are revolutionary. We want to create co-productions between them. It could be very powerful," she said.

Colombia and Korea will celebrate the 60th anniversary of diplomatic ties in 2022, and Mayolo has laid the groundwork for some of the projects that will commemorate the occasion.

"We also had the opportunity to meet with the directors of the National Museum of Korea and the Seoul International Book Fair, because Korea and Colombia will celebrate 60 years of diplomatic relations in 2022 and the cultural agenda should be central in this celebration," the minister said.

"We are going to have a book fair in Korea, at which Colombia will be the main guest, while Korea will be the main guest in the Bogota International Book fair. Also, we are going to have an exhibition on Korea at the National Museum of Colombia, and an exhibition on Colombian culture in the National Museum of Korea."

Both Colombia and Korea are embracing culture and the creative economy as a sustainable development strategy.

"We both share the fact that the creative industries and culture will help our nations create more inclusion and more economic development. I think it was very fruitful to strengthen our relationship, and also to create a roadmap with this memorandum for the next few years," the minister said.