Stealing the show Saturday night at the Java Jazz Festival, Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu proudly announced the government was preparing a blueprint to guide the creative industries.

The industries, she said, not only contribute significantly to the country's GDP but also help project a positive image of the local business climate to the rest of the world.

Most importantly, she said, the industries "define the national identity."

The blueprint, she said, was due for implementation next year, and aims to encourage people to be more actively involved in creative industries, to help drive the national economy.

Creative industries contributed an average 6.3 percent to Indonesia's GDP between 2002 and 2006, according to the latest data from the Trade Ministry.

The creative industries comprise some 14 areas; music and musical instruments, advertising, architecture, handicrafts and art festivals, antiques, design, fashion, film, video and photography, interactive games, performing arts, printing and publishing, computer services and software, and radio and television.

Since 2001, Mari said, 50 percent of the total consumer spending in G7 countries has been spent on creative industry products.

The upcoming blueprint, she said, would follow on from another initiative launched last year, called "Indonesia design power", which basically aimed to redesign and improve creative products manufactured by small and medium businesses.

"The initiative aimed to reduce the stigma that our creative products are 'cheap'," Mari said.

"Most people are interested in buying products for their design, as a priority over quality," she added.

Most creative businesses here, she said, were dominated by small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). However, she said, SMEs did not need to expand their business to succeed in creative industries.

"Many SMEs in other countries succeed by producing a limited range of custom-made products," she said.

Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman Muhammad S. Hidayat, also present at the festival, said Indonesia had good creative products.

"Indonesian products sold out at exhibitions in Japan and China. The two countries even ordered more products," he said.

"However, our creative businesses cannot always produce enough products to meet demands, so we must improve this," he added, affirming the need for the blueprint.

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