There is a number of prerequisites in terms of developing the creative economy in the Far East in such keys that allow us to build on them. First of all, it is the community, the teams that have formed in the regions, and the regions themselves determine their own points of growth. Secondly, it is the rich cultural code of the Far East that produces the narratives associated with a lot of creative economy. Thirdly, it is our territorial features, where our export potential and opportunities to sell the products of the creative economy to the huge Asia Pacific market helps us. And there are virtually no barriers to export. The fourth prerequisite is that the Far East has traditionally been an area of experimentation. We are always allowed to do a little more here than in other territories. And the results that show up in the Far East are further replicated throughout the country — Elvira Nurgalieva, First Deputy General Director for Social Development, Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.

Both the website of the Presidential Grants Fund and the website of the Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives already contain a huge database of cross-pollination ideas. These are the best practices that have been selected, financed by the government. You can see it for yourself: everything is public. You can look at neighbouring regions, or distant regions, or ideas that have been implemented and, if it suits the region, replicate them — Roman Karmanov, Chief Executive Officer, Presidential Fund for Cultural Initiatives.

If you look at Russia, the way it is arranged today in terms of creative industries, it is a patchwork quilt. It has come to be that way because grassroot initiatives and various regional initiatives have been faster than the federal ones. That includes Yakutia, which has proved to be great, as well as Ulyanovsk, Kaliningrad, and a number of other regions. One way or another, all of them developed their own approaches, each interesting from different perspectives, and studied the international experience. As a result, what worked in practice in each region crystallized in some way into their own approach. <...> Today, in my view, Russia in this sense represents such a huge map of different experiences, approaches, and achievements. This is great, from my point of view, because this is a stage where regions can pollinate each other, not least of all with our participation — Igor Namakonov, General Director, Federation of Creative Industries.

The good news is that a lot has been done at the regional level and at the federal level too, and the number of people employed in the creative sector is growing all over the world, and Russia is certainly no exception. The bad news is that we still speak slightly different languages when we say what a creative industry is, what a creative economy is, and which authorities should be involved to develop the creative industries potential. <...> We have done business analysis and realized what the problems in the sector are. They are hardly different from those faced by business in the non-creative sector either. It is all about support measures and taxation. <...> The entrepreneurs have always faced the problem of inability to get credit: this was the main problem for the creative sector. <...> Quite a few tools have been created at the federal level but, unfortunately, there are serious issues with interdepartmental interaction, especially when it comes to analysis, strategy, and a plan for developing the creative industries — Anna Afanasyeva, Deputy Director for Project Activities, Roskulttsentr.

I will say very briefly about the research. <...> Of course, the creative sector is growing in all regions of the Far East, but we are all aware that they are developing very unevenly: we see leading regions, leading projects and at the same time we see territories that are not involved in the creative economy — Tatyana Abankina, Director, Center for Creative Economy, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

What exactly can be done and what could potentially spur the development of creative industries, including here in the Far East? In the public sector, [it is necessary] to build up this upbringing of a creative economy person. It means the ‘creation’ of such a person on the ground. <...> There is a huge number of people and organizations that are active and ready to do something on their territories in order to really have a decent social environment, a decent cultural environment, including infrastructure. There is a large number of projects, where young people do things for young people. <...> Once they create such a person, of course, they need to retain them and to attract new people. That is the most difficult thing, frankly. <...> Speaking about the development and education of a creative person or a person of the creative economy, we should not only talk about creating content or creating ideas and the skills that are necessary for this. We should foster a culture of intellectual property protection and monetization of intangible assets because this is the bridge between creativity and the economy — Innokentiy Dementyev, Deputy General Director, Presidential Grants Foundation.

In education, it is probably too early to talk about key breakthroughs, but there are two serious areas in which we are making progress. Five cities in the Russian Far East have formulated their ambitions and submitted competitive projects to the Ministry of Education and Science. I hope that we will get to see the first results in October, so that some of them will receive support and create new educational infrastructure, which is also a serious prerequisite for developing creative economies. The second is that a decision has already been made on education: last week, the Government signed a decree on a separate programme for developing higher education in the Far East. This is a competition in which all higher education institutions in the Far East, regardless of their size or direction, including our cultural universities, are participating, reflecting on their development strategies, competing in terms of meaning and receiving federal support, and implementing projects, including in creative economies — Elvira Nurgalieva, First Deputy General Director for Social Development, Corporation for the Development of the Far East and the Arctic.

[The] share of people with non-creative competences, but who nevertheless work in the creative sector, is growing. We can see that despite the pandemic and sanctions, the share of employed people with creative competences is growing. We have even seen it grow faster than in sectors that are not creative. In other words, the demand for people with creative competences in industry, transport and construction is growing today. That is why it is very important that educational programmes start working, and that they really ensure this demand for people with creative competences — Tatyana Abankina, Director, Center for Creative Economy, National Research University Higher School of Economics.

It is the Club of Cheerful and Resourceful as a youth organization, as our domestic intellectual product, that can become the human resource foundation for the development of creative industries both in the Far East and in Russia as a whole. <...> I want to talk about the Club as a social lift in the context of professional training. <...> The Club is essentially the first project for a creative manager’s life, with directors, managers, and producers of regional teams making good careers. <...> We suggest developing the Club in the Far East by creating here the point of attraction, a project office of the Far Eastern League and moving away from the branch network towards its own Club. <...> Together with the Far East Development Corporation, we want to launch a Far Eastern TV league of the Club next year, so that teams here can realize their creative lines of potential for their ambitions — Artur Tumanyan, Project Producer, Club of Cheerful and Resourceful.