BRICS+ Creative Economy: where new growth centres are emerging

BRICS+ creative economy development models

According to the TV BRICS study “Creative economy: how culture, creativity and innovation influence finance and minds”, creative industries (CIs) support innovation, increase the competitiveness of cities, contribute to sustainable development and promote exports. At the same time, investors still consider this sector less frequently as an independent investment area compared with traditional industries, including trade and construction.

The global economy is gradually shifting towards a model where knowledge, intellectual property, technology and creative capital play an increasingly important role. The United Nations considers the creative economy (CE) one of the drivers of sustainable development. The global CI market was estimated at US$2.9 trillion in 2024 and could exceed US$4.3 trillion by 2033, with an average annual growth rate of 4.3 per cent. Creative industries account for around 3.1 per cent of global GDP, 3 per cent of global trade and more than 6 per cent of employment. Some segments of the sector are growing by up to 8 per cent annually, in some cases twice as fast as traditional industries.

Creative industries include design, architecture, education, advertising, new media, painting, cinema, jewellery, music, museums, visual arts and other activities based on the creation and commercialisation of intellectual and cultural products.

Creative activity is based on knowledge and intellectual labour. At the same time, the experience economy is becoming increasingly important, where the value of a product is determined not only by functional characteristics but also by emotions, cultural context, brand and unique user experience. In essence, creativity has become a systemic economic factor that creates jobs, attracts export
revenues and generates significant income. Its contribution to global GDP could reach 10 per cent by 2030.

Analysis of national strategies and indicators makes it possible to identify three sustainable models for the development of the creative sector within the group. The first is the innovation and technology model, primarily represented by China and the UAE, where economies have large-scale technological infrastructure and capital. The second is the hybrid model, represented by Russia and Brazil, which have significant human resources and consumer potential. The third is the traditional cultural model, characteristic of South Africa, India, Egypt, Iran and Ethiopia, where a significant share of potential is linked to cultural heritage and national identity.

The key investment potential of BRICS+ lies not in individual national markets, but at the intersection of their competitive advantages.

Economics and business expert, Candidate of Economic Sciences Georgy Grits notes that the global market underestimates the competitive advantages of BRICS+ in the creative economy:

“BRICS+ creative industries represent a market with significant potential, combining Eastern capital, Africa’s demographics, modern technologies of China and Eurasia, and dominance in raw materials and energy markets, including rare earth elements. The generation of consumer demand and the shaping of preferences remain largely under Western control. It is within structures such as BRICS and the SCO that the foundations of a multipolar world order are being formed. For many BRICS+ countries, a priority in developing their own creative industries is expanding exports of goods and services,” Georgy Grits stated.

The expert added that stimulating domestic creative markets could become an important element of cooperation.

According to the TV BRICS study “Development of Creative Industries: BRICS Countries”, the share of the creative economy in Indonesia’s GDP is 7.3 per cent. In China, this figure reached 4.6 per cent in 2024. Russia demonstrates comparable indicators: the share of creative industries reached 4.1 per cent in 2024. Brazil and the UAE are at similar levels – 3.6 per cent and 3.5 per cent respectively. In Egypt, early estimates showed a figure of less than 1 per cent, while 2024 data from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development allow it to be estimated at around 3 per cent. South Africa’s creative economy accounted for around 3 per cent of GDP in 2023. However, cross-country comparisons require caution due to differences in national approaches to classifying and accounting for creative industries.

In terms of creative economy volume, China leads with US$879 billion. It is followed by Indonesia with US$105 billion, Russia with US$87 billion and Brazil with US$78 billion. In terms of employment, Indonesia stands out, with creative sectors employing 18.7 per cent of the workforce, followed by Egypt with 15 per cent and India with 8.3 per cent. In absolute terms, India provides employment for around 50 million people, China for 30 million citizens, and around 27.4 million people work in Indonesia’s creative sectors.

Export trade also remains highly concentrated. China and the UAE account for more than 60 per cent of BRICS+ creative goods exports, while Russia, Brazil and Indonesia together account for less than 15 per cent.

According to the TV BRICS study, key challenges include uneven government support, a lack of financing, an imbalance between production and exports, digital inequality and insufficient comparable statistics.

At the same time, differences between countries are reflected in support mechanisms. China and the UAE have centralised development programmes linked to national strategies and targeted support mechanisms. In Russia, India and Brazil, a significant share of support is formed at regional and private levels, while in Egypt and Ethiopia the legislative and institutional framework for the creative economy is still developing.

Differences in approaches to defining and accounting for creative industries remain a separate challenge. The lack of comparable methodologies for assessing GDP, employment, exports and added value complicates both international comparisons and the development of joint policies.

Access to financing remains another limitation. Creative companies often lack access to specialised banking products, venture financing and preferential lending, as the traditional financial system is primarily focused on physical assets. Public-private support mechanisms, which are actively developing in China and the UAE, are becoming one way to address this gap.

Digital inequality also limits the ability of creative businesses to scale. Internet penetration varies significantly among BRICS+ countries – from 99 per cent in the UAE to 38 per cent in Ethiopia. Another limitation is the general caution of venture investors. In recent years, the number of venture deals globally has declined, while capital has increasingly concentrated in traditional technology sectors, especially information and communication technologies. This limits access to financing for a broader range of creative sectors and emerging markets and raises requirements for projects seeking private capital.

China and the UAE: innovation and technology model

The
Global Innovation Index (GII) has been published annually since 2007 by the World Intellectual Property Organisation and its partners. The GII 2025 covered 139 countries and included 79 indicators, allowing the effectiveness of national innovation systems to be assessed.

China is the most prominent example of integrating the economy with technological development. In the 2025 GII ranking, the country placed 10th and had 24 of the world’s top 100 innovation clusters. China also led globally in patent activity and maintained strong positions in scientific and technological performance. At the same time, it ranked second in late-stage venture financing, reflecting the growing role of private capital in developing innovative companies.

Among the country’s largest innovation centres are Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai. China’s high-tech exports and position in global value chains continue to strengthen, particularly in strategic sectors such as semiconductors and green technologies. Technological and financial infrastructure provides a foundation for scaling innovative and creative businesses.

China is consistently developing cultural trade, national export bases, tax incentives, grants, project financing and talent training centres. An important element of this policy has been measures supporting the high-quality development of foreign cultural trade. Various government agencies support digital cultural trade, exports of publications and copyrights, radio, television and film programmes, visual and decorative arts products, as well as cultural and design services. At the same time, exports of Chinese cuisine and traditional Chinese medicine are also encouraged.

As a result, government policy is gradually shifting from the concept of “Made in China” towards the model of “Intelligent Manufacturing in China”, where domestic production of intellectual products is becoming increasingly important.

The UAE is developing its own model through the concentration of financial, urban and cultural infrastructure. The country plans to increase the share of the creative sector in GDP to 5 per cent by 2031, while its position in the GII 2025 ranking rose to a historic high of 30th place. Dubai is an international financial and creative hub, attracting international cultural events, businesses and investment.

Photo source: Eugeneonline /
iStock

Hybrid model

The hybrid model is successfully implemented by Russia, Brazil and Indonesia. These countries combine market mechanisms with cultural instruments, relying on domestic demand and regional development.

Russia is developing its own institutional approach to the creative economy. Legislation identifies four key areas: historical and cultural heritage, literature and arts, information and communication technologies, and applied creativity.

The Russian government
approved the Strategy for the Development of the Creative Economy until 2036. The document defines the creative economy as a system where added value is created through intellectual activity and creative labour, while the ecosystem includes institutional conditions, interaction between participants, production and promotion of products, education, logistics, trade and technology.

Russia is consistently strengthening its role as a platform for cooperation between the creative markets of partner countries while developing its own infrastructure for producing and commercialising intellectual products.

In Russia, gross value added in the creative economy increased by 65 per cent over five years when adjusted for inflation, while GDP grew by 15.9 per cent. Thus, the creative economy expanded around four times faster than GDP.

The sector employs 4.5 million people, accounting for 6.2 per cent of all employed citizens. At the same time, development remains highly differentiated: the five largest industries – software, advertising and PR, gastronomy, performing arts and architecture – account for 75 per cent of gross value added in creative industries, while the five smallest sectors – design, fashion, music, folk arts and crafts, and video games – generate only 1.4 per cent, indicating significant room for further growth.

In Russia’s creative economy in 2025, software accounted for 39.29 per cent of gross value added, advertising and PR for 15.08 per cent, performing arts for 11.31 per cent, architecture and urban planning for 6.97 per cent, gastronomy for 6.22 per cent, leisure and entertainment for 4.72 per cent, media for 4.4 per cent, and films and series for 3.56 per cent.

Brazil also has significant potential: the creative economy accounts for around 2.91 per cent of GDP and more than US$43 billion annually. Sao Paulo ranks among the top three creative cities in Latin America. Government policy includes measures against piracy, support for cultural funds, education development and assistance for small businesses, including in smaller cities.

Indonesia demonstrates one of the highest shares of the creative economy in GDP – 7.3 per cent. The country is actively developing exports of food products, local spices and herbs, while attracting investment into the sector.

Traditional cultural model

India, South Africa, Egypt, Iran and Ethiopia have significant cultural potential that has not yet been fully converted into economic value. This model relies on crafts, historical heritage, cinema, tourism and national identity. At the same time, digitalisation is gradually expanding opportunities for commercialising cultural capital.

India is one of the most illustrative examples of combining human capital, the digital economy and creative industries. According to the TV BRICS study “Development of Creative Industries: BRICS Countries”, India has maintained its status in the GII 2025 ranking as an economy performing above expectations given its level of development. The country has remained in this group for 15 consecutive years since 2011, despite being classified as a middle-income economy.

Around 50 million people are employed in India’s creative sectors, representing 8.3 per cent of the workforce. Mumbai remains one of the world’s largest centres of film production. India’s share of the global animation and visual effects market could increase from 10 per cent to 25 per cent by 2030, potentially creating 75,000–125,000 new jobs. One job in the film industry ultimately creates an average of 3.7 jobs in related sectors such as tourism and transport. India’s key advantage lies in combining a large labour market, developed digital infrastructure and strong positions in IT services. This creates conditions for connecting traditional creative industries with technological solutions and developing new export models.

Iran combines significant cultural capital with notable innovation potential. In the GII 2025 ranking, the country placed 70th and was among the middle-income economies that have improved their positions most rapidly since 2013. Iran’s creative sector includes film production, animation, games, design, crafts and tourism. The country operates a specialised cultural and creative industries park bringing together companies, start-ups and projects in areas including cinema, music, animation, games, jewellery, crafts, tourism and IT. Particular attention is paid to commercialising developments, technological advancement and job creation. Cinema plays a special role, serving both as an economic sector and an instrument of Iran’s international cultural presence.

Egypt and South Africa have strong potential for further sector development but require investment and infrastructure. In Egypt, early estimates showed a share of less than 1 per cent of GDP, while 2024 data from the UN Conference on Trade and Development allow it to be estimated at around 3 per cent.

South Africa focuses particularly on developing audiovisual media, including content creation and media service exports through attracting public investment.

Ethiopia currently demonstrates one of the lowest shares of the creative economy in GDP (0.9 per cent) but has unique cultural capital and potential for further development. The country’s key challenge is creating conditions where cultural resources can be transformed into commercially sustainable products, new jobs and export opportunities.

Photo source: Jacob Wackerhausen /
iStock

BRICS+ cities as investment clusters

Cities are becoming the main centres of creative capital concentration. They form a distributed specialisation system combining talent, technology, education, infrastructure and capital.

According to the
Global Cities Innovation Index (HSE GCII) for 2024, BRICS+ cities demonstrate rapid growth in areas such as gaming, design and digital art. The leading BRICS+ cities in the ranking were Shanghai (7th place) and Beijing (9th place), which have become major centres of technological and animation development.

Guangzhou and Hangzhou have significantly strengthened their positions through the development of esports, IT companies and modern animation studios. Moscow ranked 15th, demonstrating strong potential in industrial design and IT. Sao Paulo (22nd place) remains a key centre of Latin America’s music and architecture industries. Mumbai (36th place) continues to lead in film production and animation. Dubai rose by 38 positions to 38th place, confirming that luxury industries and architecture can become drivers of the creative sector. Tehran moved from 108th to 71st place, demonstrating progress in architecture and jewellery design.

This approach allows cities to be viewed not as competing platforms with identical specialisations, but as elements of a distributed production system where each metropolis performs its own function within a shared value chain.

Innovation infrastructure and technological foundation

Digitalisation is the foundation for scaling the creative economy. Cloud technologies, AI, high-speed networks, computing power and digital platforms make it possible to distribute products almost without geographical restrictions.

In 2024, venture capital growth was largely driven by major AI deals. China ranks second in late-stage venture financing, patent applications and supercomputer performance. The UAE ranks 30th in the GII 2025 and continues developing a favourable environment for
technology and creative businesses. India holds leading positions in IT services exports. Brazil ranks 52nd, Indonesia 55th and Russia 60th.

Cloud computing, 5G networks and modern computing capacities reduce the cost of producing and distributing digital content and expand opportunities for scaling. AI helps remove boundaries between creators of creative products and audiences, reduces production costs for certain types of digital content and creates new monetisation models. As a result, technological infrastructure becomes not a supporting element but one of the key assets of the creative economy.

At the BRICS+ level, compatible digital platforms, payment solutions, licensing tools and digital rights management systems can form the technological foundation of a cross-border creative economy. However, technology infrastructure itself does not create final economic value: the key outcome of its use is an intellectual product that can be protected, licensed and transformed into an independent asset.

Reasons behind the financing gap in creative industries

The main financing challenge for creative industries lies in the mismatch between the nature of their assets and traditional financial sector requirements. A creative start-up may not possess significant real estate or equipment but may own a music catalogue, gaming franchise, patent, script or recognisable character capable of generating future cash flows.

For banks, this requires moving from evaluating primarily physical collateral towards assessing future cash flows, intellectual property quality and business model sustainability. In other words, the key question is not only what a project owns today but what economic value its intellectual assets can generate in the future.

Expert Georgy Grits identifies systemic barriers limiting the scaling of creative businesses in BRICS+. These include competition between countries for influence in regional markets, the absence of a clear creative economy development strategy within the group, a lack of formalised criteria for comparative analysis and common terminology, excessive bureaucracy in copyright protection and weak cross-border enforcement mechanisms.

The expert also highlights difficulties in accessing venture capital and long-term investment.

“To provide creative industries with sufficient resources, it would be advisable to create regional financing instruments for creative entrepreneurship based on cross-border cooperation, such as a BRICS+ Cultural Entrepreneurship Support Fund or special international grants and awards covering the entire range of creative industries,” he stressed.

Expert in BRICS economic and technological cooperation, digital transformation and AI applications in business Abed Amiri believes that the main challenge for BRICS+ is the gap between the real value of intellectual assets and the ability of financial systems to recognise this value and transform it into capital.

“A brand, software, patent or cultural content may have high economic value, but for a bank they become acceptable collateral only when they can be transparently assessed, legally formalised, transferred if necessary and realised on the market. In many BRICS+ countries, this chain has not yet been fully established,” Abed Amiri said.

Photo source: AndreyPopov /
iStock

How BRICS+ can create a common creative industries market

To build a cross-border creative economy, BRICS+ needs a complete value chain: create → protect IP → finance → produce → distribute → monetise.

This sequence allows the transition from isolated cultural projects to full economic integration. One possible direction is joint content production – from films and series to games, animation and digital art.

Education becomes an investment resource within this model. The chain “education, talent, start-ups, IP and exports” can create a sustainable foundation for creative entrepreneurship. University alliances and joint master’s programmes in creative economy and global cooperation can provide training and academic mobility. Skilled specialists form teams and start-ups, create intellectual property and bring products to domestic and international markets. Joint academic mobility programmes can become elements of a common BRICS+ skills market.

Digitalisation should enable small and medium-sized enterprises to participate in
cross-border trade through payment solutions, digital marketing, platforms and distribution tools. Another condition for integration is gradual convergence of accounting standards, creative industry classification and regulation of cross-border operations. This will improve statistical comparability and simplify cooperation between businesses and investors.

At the BRICS+ level, compatible approaches are needed for intellectual property protection, licensing, digital rights, cross-border transactions and joint production. This does not necessarily require creating unified legislation; more important is ensuring comparable rules and predictable conditions for companies, investors and rights holders.

Promising areas of integration in BRICS countries

International creative clusters represent a promising direction: joint film and video projects involving India, Russia and Egypt; cooperation between China, the UAE and Brazil in design and architecture; and development of digital art and gaming industries with participation from Russia, Indonesia and Iran.

Cross-border cultural and tourism routes combining cultural heritage and creative products of BRICS+ countries could also become a promising area. Such formats can expand tourism demand, increase the duration of visits and create additional opportunities for small and medium-sized businesses – from hospitality and gastronomy to local producers of cultural and creative products.

Cultural diplomacy can also perform an economic function through festivals, art residencies, joint exhibitions, educational programmes and other formats that create professional links between creative industry representatives.

In the future, a digital platform for distributing BRICS+ content, including audiovisual works, music, educational and cultural projects, could become part of common infrastructure. Such a mechanism could expand access to national content for audiences in other countries and create additional opportunities for cross-border monetisation.

Expert Georgy Grits provides a specific example of a practical integration tool: “A practical example is the international interaction platform for creative industry representatives from BRICS countries and partner states – BRICS Creative Industry.” Its objectives include building professional networks, supporting joint projects, promoting export potential of creative products, developing professional training programmes and establishing common cooperation standards.

Investment opportunities

For investors, the most promising opportunities lie not in individual art forms but in the infrastructure surrounding them. Investment opportunities in the BRICS+ creative economy can be divided into five types of assets:

1. Content assets, including films, music, games and animation.

2. Infrastructure assets, represented by platforms, payment systems, cloud services and distribution tools.

3. Intellectual assets, such as IP, licences, brands and catalogues.

4. Human capital and development infrastructure assets: education, accelerators, laboratories and other mechanisms for preparing and supporting projects.

5. Financial infrastructure, including IP valuation, lending against future cash flows and insurance for creative projects.

According to Abed Amiri, private investors are most interested in areas capable of transforming creativity into sustainable and scalable income. These include digital content, gaming, media platforms, AI-based technologies, as well as design and local brands with export potential.

“Such businesses generally require comparatively less initial capital than heavy industries, enter markets faster and can reach audiences far beyond national borders through online channels. In addition, projects combining local culture with technology can create competitive advantages both domestically and in trade between BRICS+ countries,” the expert said.

Investors receive a roadmap of key opportunities. The focus is on investing in a production chain that enables the monetisation of the group’s unique cultural code.

Investors should pay attention to regional clusters where infrastructure and talent concentration are already established: Shanghai and Beijing in technology, Dubai in premium design, Moscow in IT and industrial design, and Mumbai in cinema.

Article prepared by Vakhit Niyazov.