Manila will make a push to anchor Southeast Asia’s $300-billion creative economy

Philippines vies to be Southeast Asia’s creative economy hub

Logan Kal-El M. Zapanta 
Inquirer.net
18 September 2026

MANILA, Philippines — Manila will make a push to anchor Southeast Asia’s $300-billion creative economy when the region’s heads of state troop to the Philippines in November, where it will pitch a center of excellence dedicated to the sector.

That center, planned for the 21,000-square-meter Likhang Filipino site in Pasay, would be just the second Asean center established in the Philippines, following the Asean Centre for Biodiversity in Los Baños, Laguna.

According to Junie del Mundo, senior adviser for creative economy at the Asean Business Advisory Council Philippines, setting up the center would allow Manila to take the lead in growing the sector, including efforts to improve intellectual property commercialization, financing and market access across the region.

“The onus will be on us, because the center of excellence is here in the Philippines,” he told reporters on the sidelines of the Asean creative economy briefing on Thursday.

Del Mundo said the proposal had already cleared Asean economic and culture ministers, leaving it up for the approval of the bloc’s leaders.

Singapore and Thailand are also interested in hosting the center, he said.

Once operational, the center is envisioned to bring together the public and private sectors from Asean member states, providing a focal point for addressing common industry challenges while helping connect creators with financing and markets.

Its financing and governance structures are still being developed, with implementation targeted for 2028.

Hosting the center would also build on the Philippines’ sizable creative economy, which already accounts for one of the larger shares of economic output in the region.

In 2025, the Philippine creative economy was valued at P2.12 trillion, equivalent to 7.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product. That puts the Philippines toward the higher end of estimates across Asean, where creative industries account for roughly 2 to 8 percent of national economies.

A study presented by Isla Lipana & Co./PwC Philippines estimated that creative industries across selected Asean economies generate roughly $300 billion in aggregate annual value in 2025 and about $150 billion in creative goods and services exports in 2024.

The study covered film, animation, game development, fashion and performing arts across all 11 Asean member states.