Colombia and the Orange Economy (What does it mean for young creatives?)

In 2018, Iván Duque was elected President of Colombia, bringing with him new ideas to transform the country through creativity, arts and culture.

Duque follows in the footsteps of Juan Manues Santos, his predecessor who won the Novel Peace prize for his efforts creating peace in the region.

Duque, though, has another approach; one which tackles the country’s challenges with aggressive funding of the arts and creative industries – a plan known as the Orange Economy. Duque has been traveling the world, sharing the news of his plans, including a presentation at the Canned Lions conference, through a talk titled, “The Orange Economy: How Ideas are the New Oil.” 

In October 2013, Duque and his colleagues published the core concepts of the Orange Economy through the Inter-American Development Bank with a manual titled “La economía naranja. Oportunidad infinita” or  “The Orange Economy: An Infinite Opportunity.”

The color orange has been historically tied to youth and happiness. Many consider it to be the color that is the most fun, often associated with culture and creativity. Furthermore, the name orange comes from the fruit and a good way to eat an orange is to squeeze its juice. Something similar occurs with the creative economy – an orange we can squeeze as many times as needed using intellect. 

This manual was written with the purpose of introducing key concepts and areas of debate around the "creative economy", a valuable development opportunity that Latin America, the Caribbean and the world at large. The "Orange Economy" encompasses the immense wealth of talent, intellectual property, interconnectedness, and cultural heritage of the Latin American and Caribbean region The Manual also showcases the analytical tools needed to take better advantage of opportunities across the arts, heritage, media, and creative services.

The implication for youth are many. The plan seeks to retain, attract, capture and reproduce the talent of highly mobile youth, a group often undervalued socially and poorly rewarded economically in our societies. Duque’s focus is on a series of policy reforms aimed towards the next generation and transforming the. Colombian economy to one of creativity and ideas.