Creative Industries Contribute Three Per Cent To Global GDP, Minister Says

Azerbaijan Culture Minister Adil Karimli has addressed the opening ceremony of the OIC Cultural Festival: Baku Creative Week – 2025, Azernews reports.

In his speech, the minister pointed out that the festival would serve as a platform for dialogue, partnership, and new ideas among representatives of the creative industries from across the Islamic world.

"The OIC Cultural Festival held in Baku will serve as a platform for dialogue, partnership, and new ideas for representatives of the creative industries from across the Islamic world. With more than 300 international participants from over 40 countries and more than 5,000 visitors expected, the event will make a significant contribution to expanding and developing connections among all those working in the creative industries, while also presenting visitors with various creative and innovative solutions," he said.

Adil Karimli pointed out that at least 3 percent of global GDP comes from cultural and creative industries, according to reports by the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), UNESCO, and other international organizations:

"In the current year, noticeable growth has been observed in several sectors of the creative industry compared to 2024. Specifically, the film industry grew by 15.13 percent, the gaming industry by 8.01 percent, online platforms by 22.56 percent, the music, radio, and podcast sector by 63.47 percent, and the book, magazine, and newspaper sector by 6.95 percent. For this reason, the development of cultural and creative industries has become one of the main directions of national cultural policy.

Therefore, we express our deep gratitude to the President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev, for creating all the necessary conditions for the successful implementation of this event. We also wish to extend our thanks to the Heydar Aliyev Foundation, especially to Azerbaijan's First Lady and President of the Foundation, Mehriban Aliyeva, for her constant support of national and global cultural projects. Hosting this event and ensuring the participation of such a wide and diverse group of creative people is a great honor and pride for us," the minister said.

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