UN Under Secretary General Anwarul Chowdhury said Thursday that the United Nations will help developing countries promote creative industries.

The initiative is aimed at exploring the cultural resources in the developing countries and turn such resources into market advantages, Chowdhury said at a seminar in Shanghai on creative industries sponsored by the United Nations.

Chowdhury said creative industries account for seven percent of the world Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on average and four percent of the GDP of the countries with medium or low income.

It is estimated that the creative industries will eventually contribute to 11 percent of the world's GDP, he said.

Creative industries involve professionals who work on patents and copyrighted material such as advertisers, architects and intellectual property creators.

Zhou Yiping, director of the UN Special Unit for South-South Cooperation, said the seminar hopes to find new ways to develop the industry by exchanging ideas between developed and developing countries, he said.

Delegates from the United Nations, China, France, Canada, Brazil, Japan and those from the G77 attended the seminar.

The seminar, co-sponsored by the UN Special Unit for South-South Cooperation and the Shanghai creative industry association, will end on Friday.

(Xinhua News Agency December 16, 2005)