LONDON, ENGLAND.-Tessa Jowell keynote speech to the Creative Economy conference, London: "How do you put a price-tag on an idea? The truth is, you can't. Ideas form the basis of all progress; they are the nub of all development and improvement. Some ideas cause a revolution in human society. Others, a radical change in our economy. And the best ideas do both. This is a time of dramatic change. We are in the midst of a seismic shift in global economic activity. China is consuming half the world's cement, over a quarter of the world's steel, and a third of the world's iron ore. Asia is now consuming 30 per cent of world oil.

Between them, India and China account for nearly two fifths of the World's economic population – five times that of the EU. A third of world growth since 2000 has come from China. China now accounts for 7% of world trade - producing 30% of the world's television sets, 50% of cameras and 70% of photocopiers. Asia is on the cusp of becoming a larger exporter than Europe. Soon, half the world's manufactured exports could come from developing countries.

And with these major changes come equally major challenges – It is no secret that Europe faces growing competition from the developing world. So faced with these facts, some commentators may feel compelled to sit back and to look back to what used to be. But that's not the answer. We cannot pretend change is not happening. And we must not let the pace of change overwhelm us.

Europe has to present a united front, look to the future, adapt to change and seize the opportunities that it creates. We can't compete with 'pile them high sell them cheap' trade strategies. But the truth is that we don't have to. We need to concentrate our efforts on where our strengths lie - in adding value through innovation and creativity.

We need to invest in the skills and potential of our people, and to create an environment where creativity can flourish, and enterprise is rewarded. We need to deliver on the Lisbon agenda. Couple this, with the fact that at no point in our history has the pace of technological change been so rapid or so far reaching -
And so the importance of our creative economy moves centre stage. A healthy creative economy is vital if Europe's knowledge economy is to continue to flourish.

This is a time of dramatic change. The worlds of culture and technology have collided, creating a universe of new possibilities, and new opportunities to access, consume and create content. Analysts predict that worldwide, convergence will lead to a one trillion dollar shift in valuations and revenues in the converging sectors by 2010.