The creative industries have an increasingly important role to play in the Scottish economy and must have the right conditions to flourish, Culture Minister Patricia Ferguson said last week.

Ms Ferguson was speaking in the Fife creative futures seminar in Glenrothes which is hosted by Glenrothes College.

The culture minister said: "The creative industries sector currently supports 70,000 jobs in Scotland and generates more than £5billion annually for the national economy.

"The non-digital creative industries are predicted to grow by between 3% and 7%, and digital media by between 10% and 20% annually, so we can see clearly the vital role that the creative industries play.

"They enable innovation across large sections of the Scottish economy as well generating cultural and social benefits."

Ms Ferguson went on: "Vital to their future is being able to react quickly to market trends by building a collaborative infrastructure which can compete on a national scale.

"And, most importantly, we must recognise the creative individual being at the heart of this growth and support them in all that they do."

She added: "Their ingenuity, their innate creativity, and their entrepreneurial skills allow the creative industries in Scotland to flourish, in turn helping Scotland's economy to flourish too."

Creative industries include advertising, architecture, the art and antiques market, crafts, design, designer fashion, film and video, interactive leisure software, music, the performing arts, publishing, software and computer services, television and radio.