Culture ministers from the Asia-Europe Meeting countries adopted a chairman's statement that calls for further international cooperation to nurture the creative industries on Friday, wrapping up their three-day meeting in Korea.

The 7th Asia-Europe Culture Ministers' meeting took place at the Asia Culture Center, a state-run arts and concert venue in Gwangju, under the theme "culture and the creative economy." It was attended by some 160 delegates from 45 ASEM member countries, including eight ministers. Gwangju is located some 330 kilometers south of Seoul.

The "creative economy" is President Park Geun-hye's flagship policy of turning new and creative ideas into real business opportunities with the help of cutting-edge science and information technology. Creative industries, which include films, music, television and video games, are widely considered the new growth engine for the future.

The officials, during the meeting, confirmed that enhancing awareness of the creative economy will serve as a catalyst in building more international dialogue and cooperation channels, and fuel the growth of creative industries, according to the statement announced by Korean Culture Minister Kim Jong-deok at the end of the meeting.

It urged the ASEM members to devise detailed plans to carry out what was discussed in the gathering and enhance their cooperation. Bulgaria was chosen to be the host country of the 2018 meeting.The statement also mentioned the outcome of the three sub-panel sessions held simultaneously on Thursday.

In the first session titled "Future of the advanced technology and the creative industries," participants agreed on the need to develop policies that can lead the creative industries.

In the second meeting, participants had an in-depth discussion on the role of traditional cultural heritage in the creative economy, sharing the importance of cultural heritage as a new source of the economy.

The third session addressed "international cooperation for vitalizing creative industries" and officials concurred on the need to work closely to minimize side effects of the rapid growth of digital media across the world.

Also during the three-day meeting, representatives welcomed Korea's proposal to build a network of young talents interested in turning their creative cultural ideas into businesses, according to Seoul officials.

Seoul plans to launch the network with four or five countries, including Korea, in the second half of the year and expand membership to include more members. It is hoped that this network can lead the future of the creative industries in the Asia-Europe regions.

The delegates will return home after participating in a guided city tour in three groups in the afternoon. Launched in Beijing in 2003, the Asia-Europe Culture Ministers' Meeting has been held biennially rotating back and forth from Asia to Europe with the purpose of facilitating cultural exchanges and cooperation among the member countries. The sixth meeting was held in the Netherlands in 2014.

ASEM is an exclusively Asian/European forum to enhance relations and promote political, economic and other exchanges with 51 countries as its members. This marks the first time for South Korea to host the event. (Yonhap)