Skip to content

Working group: Creative Business Finland services should be created for creative industries

Ministry of Economic Affairs and EmploymentMinistry of Education and CultureMinistry of Social Affairs and Health
Publication date 12.4.2017 15.05 | Published in English on 18.4.2017 at 11.22
Press release

A working group, appointed by the Ministry of Education and Culture, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment and the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, submitted its report on reinforcing creative economy in Finland. The report reviews barriers to making use of creative competence. It contains proposals for developing business activities and employment, for reforming funding instruments and for developing social security for creative professionals and artists.

The creative industries working group proposes that the Government launch the construction of multidisciplinary development services called Creative Business Finland. It would be based on the Tekes bioeconomy programme and best international practices.

The working group proposes measures that would help the Government achieve its employment and competitiveness targets. It believes that the measures would fairly quickly increase the number of people employed in the creative industries by some 10,000 people. Other sectors’ competitiveness and employment could also be improved significantly by investing in the effective use of intellectual capital and creative competence and in generating economic added value across the economy on a larger scale.

“Creative industries are strong growth sectors globally, and they are already significant employers in Finland, too. The working group’s proposals to boost creative growth are more than welcome,” said Minister of Education and Culture Sanni Grahn-Laasonen, who received the report on behalf of the Government.

The working group identified five key barriers to growth that can be addressed through Government activities. Since the working group’s goal was to help the Government reach its programme targets concerning entrepreneurship and employment, the proposals have been drawn up so that they can be integrated into these Government packages.

The working group proposes the following measures for removing barriers to creative growth:

  1. The Government designates creative economy and the creation of intangible value as one of the spearheads of growth in its growth strategy and launches the construction of Creative Business Finland services.
  2. Practices that enable the transfer of copyrights from copyright holders to their companies and VAT-related special issues and solutions are reviewed.
  3. Funding instruments and valuation methods suitable for IP-based companies are developed.
  4. Multidisciplinary clusters of creative competence are created, and the working life relevance of education and training are improved.
  5. Proposals for improving the social security of creative professionals and artists are formulated.

The Creative Business Finland services would be one of the motors for growth that are based on public-private partnerships. Service paths would be established for creative industries to help them grow and generate new businesses as well as to facilitate economic value growth based on creative competence and IP rights. Creative Business Finland would gather together the most important services for business development, growth, guidance, training and internationalisation and it would be integrated with the organisation of funding services, counties’ growth services and Business Finland services.

The aim should be that creative industries, such as the music sector, have the possibility to economic operation under the same conditions that apply to other sectors and that creative industry corporations can operate on the same conditions as other business operations. There should be practices in place that enable the transfer of copyrights to the copyright holder’s company. Moreover, special issues and solutions with regard to value added taxation should be reviewed.

The working group proposes that a structured dialogue between creative industry entrepreneurs and funders be established in order to identify funding risks and develop risk management tools, such as guarantee funds and insurance products, in accordance with best international practices.  Universities providing training in creative industries should be grouped into multidisciplinary hubs of creative competence that would be integrated with R&D in different sectors and business collaboration. Refinery services would be launched as part of Creative Business Finland.

The social security system should be developed so that it supports working and therefore also growth in all circumstances. The working group proposes that a new judicial status in between wage-earners and entrepreneurs be created to increase legal certainty for the social security of people working in creative industries. The social security of self-employed people and freelancers should be equal to the social security of wage-earners. Unemployment allowance should not be adjusted with regard to copyright royalties concerning work, performances, etc. completed before the unemployment. The working group also proposes that cooperative-based activities be developed to solve the problems with social security.

The final report of the working group includes a dissenting opinion of the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health.

Inquiries:

- Anne Brunila, Chair of the working group, Professor of Practice, tel. +358 400 813 952

- Matias Marttinen, Special Adviser, Ministry of Education and Culture, tel. +358 44 269 3113

- Hannu Väänänen, Special Adviser, Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment, tel. +358 50 4104 909

On other websites:
Promoting the creative economy and intangible value creation as spearheading growth sectors. Report of the working group on recognising the creative sectors as a driver of Finnish economy and employment (Description sheet in English) http://urn.fi/URN:ISBN:978-952-263-464-1

Copyright Culture Higher education and research Mika Lintilä Pirkko Mattila Sanni Grahn-Laasonen