Preface One Fostering Strengths and Overcoming Weaknesses to Achieve Collaborative Innovation

Tam Chon Weng[1]

With the theme of “regional collaboration and innovation platform”，the Forum on Cultural Industries （Macao） 2015，organized by the Chinese Cultural Exchange Association，invited experts and scholars from the Chinese Mainland，Taiwan，South Korea，the United Kingdom，Spain and the United Nations commissioners，to discuss about the development of Macao’s cultural industries，including topics on regional collaboration，innovation platform，resource integration and development. I would like to express my heartfelt congratulations on the success of the forum！

In the era of globalization，cultural industries have become diversified. Amenable to being combined with technology，tourism or finance，cultural industries have broadened their channel for creating industrial value. In the initial stage，the development of Macao’s cultural industries should focus on breaking through the existing limitations. On one hand，it involves cultivating industrial talents，encouraging the growth of incubators via policies，promoting the marketization and industry scale-up. On the other hand，it involves fostering strengths and overcoming weaknesses，making the best use of Macao’s historic and cultural resources，and actively engaging in regional cooperation so as to achieve collaborative innovation.

The “Belt and Road” initiative by the Central Government brings new development opportunities for Macao’s cultural industries. Macao used to be a crucial site along the Maritime Silk Route. It also has close connections with Portuguese-speaking countries and enjoys the geographical advantage of neighboring the Pearl River Delta，a highly developed region. How to utilize resources，advance with the times and ride on the current policies in order to accelerate the development of Macao’s cultural industries are the main concern in the current stage.

Regional Synergy and Platform Innovation-2015 Macao Cultural Industries Report features valuable speeches and related research reports from the Forum on Cultural Industries （Macao） 2015. By learning the useful experiences from other countries and regions，we have gained some new ideas and impetus for a stable and sustainable development of cultural industries in Macao.

December 2015

[1] Tam Chon Weng，Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture，the Macao S.A.R. Government.