The Symposium was extremely important because it succeeded in establishing the basis for a new strategic alliance between culture and development in the Asia-Pacific region, eloquently articulated in the Jodhpur Consensus.

The conference, as part of UNESCO’s Creativity and Cultural Industries Programme in Asia and the Pacific was entitled ‘Asia Pacific Creative Communities: Cultural Industries for Local Economic Development,’ and was designed to help governments and the private sector coordinate initiatives and help policy makers develop a common understanding and approach to developing a conceptual framework for cultural industries in the region.

Bringing together experts, academics, businesspeople, policy makers and professionals through presentations and round-table meetings, the event contributed to UNESCO’s efforts to bridge the knowledge and technology gap between the region and industrialized countries to allow Asian Pacific countries to unlock the economic and social potential of their cultural assets and traditional knowledge.

The event, hosted by the Maharaja of Jodhpur, took place at the Fort Palace which received the Award of Excellence in 2002's UNESCO Asia-Pacific Heritage Awards for Culture Heritage Conservation and was be attended by specialized UN agencies such as the United Nations Industrial Development Organization, the World Intellectual Property Organization and the World Bank.

Presentations and papers from the meeting are available online at: www.unescobkk.org/culture/cultural_industries