The global economy is shifting from resource-dependent models to intellect and IP-driven structures. Despite massive prospects in gaming, design, and AI services, Bangladesh's creative industries remain marginalized. This article advocates for urgent policy reforms and institutional frameworks to transform the creative economy into a cornerstone of national growth and soft power.

Creative Economy: The Untapped Weapon of Bangladesh's Soft Power

Sakif Shamim

Jul 15, 2026 00:00

The global economy is rapidly transitioning from a reliance on natural resources and traditional labor to a knowledge-based, innovation-driven, and Intellectual Property (IP)-centric structure. Consequently, sectors such as cinema, music, animation, gaming, design, software, digital content, handicrafts, and AI-driven creative services are no longer merely cultural pursuits; they have evolved into high-value-adding economic sectors. Harnessing a rich cultural heritage, a tech-savvy youth demographic, and a flourishing digital ecosystem, Bangladesh possesses immense potential in this arena. However, this sector has yet to receive its due strategic integration within our national development plans and macroeconomic blueprints.

At present, the creative industries in Bangladesh are hindered from reaching their full potential by a critical lack of robust copyright and royalty mechanisms, rampant digital piracy, severe funding constraints, a shortage of specialized human capital, weak international marketing, and the absence of a unified policy framework. By ensuring progressive policies, legal overhauls, and modern institutional support, the creative economy can become a primary engine for employment generation, export diversification, and foreign remittance earnings. Furthermore, it represents the most potent instrument for amplifying Bangladesh's global branding and 'Soft Power'.

Strategic Roadmap and Policy Interventions

According to the Center for Strategic and Economic Research (CSER), realizing this immense potential requires immediate and structured state interventions:

National Creative Economy Policy: The state must formulate a comprehensive National Creative Economy Policy to formally recognize the creative economy as a distinct and independent economic sector.
Financial & Infrastructure Endowments: To alleviate early-stage capital crunches, establishing a Creative Economy Development Fund is vital, alongside building a unified digital royalty infrastructure, regional 'Creative Hubs', and district-level 'Creative Clusters'.
IP Protection & Internationalization: Strict legal enforcement is paramount to protect intellectual property and curb digital piracy. Simultaneously, launching a Creative Export Promotion Programme and establishing a Creative Economy Satellite Account will facilitate global market integration.
Educational Alignment: The academic curriculum must incorporate modern disciplines such as Creative Entrepreneurship, Design Thinking, Digital Media, and IP Management, underpinned by a long-term national roadmap targeting 2030.

Global precedents indicate that nations like India, Japan, and notably South Korea, have successfully converted their cultural and creative industries into global economic powerhouses through deliberate state strategies. Bangladesh can pioneer a similar trajectory if it emancipates the creative industries from traditional cultural confines and structurally integrates them with the national industrial policy, education, IT, trade, and export strategies. Designing a sustainable and legally secure ecosystem for artists, writers, designers, software engineers, game developers, and digital content creators will enable Bangladesh to establish a robust global footprint—transitioning from the identity of "Made in Bangladesh" to the prestigious benchmark of "Created in Bangladesh".

Author: Chairman, Center for Strategic and Economic Research (CSER)