SINGAPORE - Singapore is one of two cities in South-east Asia designated a Unesco creative city of design, the DesignSingapore Council said on Friday (Dec 11).

Along with Bandung in Indonesia, Singapore will join the Unesco Creative Cities Network (UCCN).

The two Asean cities, along with Budapest (Hungary), Detroit (United States), Kaunas (Lithuania) and Puebla (Mexico) will join 16 existing members in the design network.

The UCCN was created in 2004 to foster co-operation among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for development.

Being a Unesco creative city will "create more opportunities for collaborations between the Singapore design industry and other member cities", the Council said in a statement.

The international exchanges will help develop Singapore's design industry, it added.

"The designation will spur us on in building a pervasive design and innovative culture that involves everyone - designers, communities and the public," Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information said in the statement.

The DesignSingapore Council will play host to the annual UCCN Conference within the next four years, it said.

Including this year's new designations, there are 116 member cities in the UCCN.

They are organised into seven creative fields, namely crafts and folk arts, design, film, gastronomy, literature, media arts and music.