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Asia has been a driver of the world economy and a strong manufac- turing base for well over a decade. China became known as the factory of the world. South Korea now boasts electronics giants such as Samsung that can rival Apple and other established Western brands. India has emerged as a quickly growing market, and Southeast Asia will become a strong economic bloc in its own right.The continent, though, despite its rich culture, history and thousands of years of civilization, has made poor progress in terms of new business geared towards providing content, such as e-publishing.Eric Yang, president and CEO of RH Korea (formerly Random House Korea), is not discouraged. Known as the trailblazer of e-publishing in Korea, Mr Yang is confident Asian countries have the potential to become major content providers.“There are tremendous opportuni- ties for Asia,” Mr Yang told Elite+ in an exclusive interview. “Asian countries have their 100 local dialects and each is very rich in terms of tradition and culture. It’s time for countries to provide and share and deliver this content to the outside world.”Mr Yang, also president of the Asia Pacific Publishไers Association (APPA), an organization with 16 member countries, bemoans the fact that the majority of Asian publishers still dwell in traditional publishing. “Asian countries have a lot of valuable content, such as local literature, won- derful cookbooks, travel guides and books about the nature and beauty of their countries. This is all interesting content but it’s only printed on paper and rarely gets digitized.”He urges publishers to make greater use of technology in order to overcome geographical and physical“Look at Korean rap-pop singer Psy. Why has he become famous? It’s because his dance clip on YouTube was seen worldwide”limitations, by digitizing content and providing more interactivity in enhanced multimedia formats. The future of publishers in Asia, he says, is to become broader content providers.According to Mr Yang, a content provider does more than convert print material into digital formats. It is a new way of approaching business, using existing technology and partners to share and create content and expand markets. “For example, if you have an old Bangkok travel guide in a traditional print format, you can digitize the old text and create extra digital content,” he said. “But a content provider won’t stop there. You can add photos, and they don’t have to be photos from the author. You can use photos off the internet and link to digital maps from Google or other map providers. Now you’ve already created new digital content and even turned it into a live digital guidebook.”Social media and the internet can help sellers find potential customers. “The internet has changed manyindustries, including publishing,” Mr Yang said. “Look at Korean rap-pop singer Psy. Why has he become famous? It’s because his dance clip on YouTube was seen worldwide by consumers who found his Gangnam style dance funny and tried to copy it.”A business that provides content is not difficult to launch. Mr Yang suggests local content providers start by collaborating on simple cultural exchange projects.Thai content providers, for example, can promote authentic Thai culture to tourists by creating material that reflects the true voice of local culture and presents it to tourists in a digital format. The project can be tied to that of neighbouring countries with similar interests and cultural roots, such as Malaysia and Indochina. Cultural similarities and exchanges can help in forming business networks and expanding markets. “We eat rice, we have black hair, and some of our cultural similarities are based on traditional Chinese culture,” Mr YangElite+ 5