By publishing his guide “ Where to export in 2025, special cultural and creative industries, video games », Business France offers a synthetic and complete panorama of the opportunities that open for actors in the sector: key markets, needs of principals, etc. Francesco Plazzotta, Tech Service Head and Innovative Services at Business France returns to the reasons that prompted the agency to put this book in the hands of businesses and its main lessons for the export of the sector. Download your free guide now!
“There is a real interest in engineering, expertise and French cultural and creative innovations” Why do you publish this guide where to export, specializing in cultural and creative industries?
The cultural and creative industries have become over the years an important sector in French export: they achieve 12% of their international turnover and their exports have experienced a strong acceleration in the previous decade (+ 16% between 2013 and 2016, the double of other key sectors of the French trade balance). However, it is often difficult to access structured information concerning them because their perimeter is moving and the sub-sectors are sometimes very siloted. Hence our desire through this guide to bring together all the data on market niches, whether geographical or sectoral, in order to deliver a map of opportunities which is both transversal and detailed.
You only treat five of the twelve sub-sectors mentioned in the France 2030 plan…
Indeed, we have retained the visual arts, video games and esports, museums, performing arts and music while the France 2030 list opened on cinema, book, architecture … This selection choice is in our desire to create synergies between the actors, already on this scale-for example on France’s pavilions where companies of adjacent sectors can share an exhibition space. And then it should also be taken into account that certain sub-sectors such as fashion and design are already supported internationally by other Business France teams, while other sectors such as book or cinema are also accompanied by specific actors (BIEF or Unifrance).
What are the major developments you observe on these markets and on their internationalization strategy?
There is an evolution in the structuring of the offer, especially internationally. Before the covid, the offers were mainly oriented on content or technological platforms: we have a lot of accompanied video games, immersive reality or music. But from now on, we see the birth of new servical approaches and a real interest of principals for cultural engineering – whether in the sectors that I have cited or, for example, that of museography. With the explosion of artificial intelligence (AI), we can expect a real disruption of content but also associated services, and therefore of the value proposal of companies. In this sense, the year 2025 is considered to be carrying renewal.
Now let’s talk about priority destinations for players in the sector. What region of the world do you consider as essential in 2025?
Without hesitation: the Gulf region. It is today a pole of development which devotes many means to the creation of a cultural offer on site and which seeks expertise and know-how via foreign partnerships. Whether in Saudi Arabia or in the United Arab Emirates, France is recognized for the skills of its companies, and these have understood their interest in positioning itself in the area: for a few years, we have been witnessing a real dynamic of prospecting and export in the region (even if it involves confronting Anglo-Saxon competition).
On the other hand, the approach of French companies seems more shy on the countries of Asia, when they are for you real opportunities of opportunities …
Yes, we emphasize a lot on the Northeast Asian markets like Japan, South Korea or Taiwan because we consider that there is an important potential for innovative technological or editorial bricks. These are countries that already have an important cultural offer, but it is very specialized in local consumer markets and it seeks to enrich international approaches to modernize. In addition, these are countries that can devote significant means to these subjects in a logic of partnerships (we can cite the example of Bandai Namco and Atlas V).
What about the major consumer markets such as the European Union, the United States, China or India?
If we look at the European Union and the United States, they are markets with great potential but there is the competitive problem: because of their great maturity, it is not necessarily easy to make a place in it … hence the need to be accompanied and to consider partnership prospecting strategies. In addition, in the United States, the customs situation challenges, even if the ICCs are mostly the “services” category for the moment spared by the announcements of the Trump administration … but what will be tomorrow? On the other hand, on China and India, the message may be more active watch, pending further acceleration. China has experienced a real cultural withdrawal with the COVID period and just begins to reopen its borders and grant licenses to foreign products. As for India, its need is emerging, with some business currents observed on museography …
What could be outsiders markets? Those who can offer opportunities for exporters?
On the priority market map of the guide where exporting, Africa and Latin America appear strangely absent. However, that does not mean that it is necessary to turn away from it or that there would be no opportunities, but these regions (and their countries) each present that it is still necessary to lift. In Africa, the main problem is around the competitiveness of French solutions, even if cultural proximity and Francophonie play rather in favor of prospecting. In Latin America, it is the American influence that is to be questioned, even if recent advances in Mexico and perhaps Brazil can let hope for a breakthrough on this market. And then there are territories like Central Asia that we invest more and more, or the Asian countries more generally: we must stay in standby on the opportunities for partnerships that emerge.
What would be your wish concerning this guide and, more generally, concerning the actions to promote the ICC sector in 2026?
We have arrived at a crucial stage where accompanied companies generate multiplier king in their internationalization strategy: with the ICC immersion acceleration programs in particular, we note a large number of contracts signed for French companies which range from exhibitions, films, musical content with museum development … It is an important signal on the potential for scalability of actors. Hence the need to highlight this type of experience to inspire other exporters: why not business testimonies in the 2026 guide? And then, personally, I would really like a structuring event to be created to unite the entire ICC ecosystem. 2025, the year of acceleration? In any case, I really believe in the innovation of this sector. Download the guide for free “Where to export in 2025?” French cultural and creative innovations ”
