The countries of the Asia-Pacific region have a vast wealth of cultural assets, both physical and intangible, and the population of the region is rich in cultural knowledge and traditional skills. In spite of this, the world map of cultural industries shows a rapidly widening knowledge and information gap between developing and industrialised countries. Asia-Pacific Creative Communities - a Strategy for the 21st Century, held in Jodhpur, India, between 22 and 26 February, 2005, aims to address this imbalance and map the way forward with international input. The UNESCO initiated symposium (organised in conjunction with UNIDO, the World Intellectual Property Organisation, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank), aims to encourage the development of cultural industries in the Asia-Pacific region and set an Asian Agenda – a conceptual framework for future policy development. The overall goal is a 10-year action plan for the promotion and development of the cultural sector across the entire region. The symposium itself will explore three key areas:

Keynote Addresses on Economics and Policy

Asia-Pacific Trends Analysis

Consideration of Technical Issues Each debate will be a dialogue between experts in the field and a cross-section of senior officials, and statesmen and women from the region. There will be a focus on roundtable discussion and open questions to all panellists and speakers. For more information, including how to register, visit www.unescobkk.org/culture/cultural_industries