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Promoting the CARIFORUM Creative Industries: A Critical Review
Photographer: Denyse Ménard-Greenidge
Alicia Nicholls Research Consultant Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Policy Law & Services The ‘Promoting the CARIFORUM Creative Industries’ project is a year-long initiative undertaken by the International Trade Centre (ITC) in partnership with the Caribbean Export Development Agency with funding under the European Union’s ProInvest Fund. The project’s speci?c aims are to build capacity among selected Micro, Medium, and Small Enterprises (MMSEs) to respond to international market demands, particularly with regard to product design and development; to enhance the capacity of its implementing partners (regional and national support institutions – see Box 1) to foster improved marketing and networking services to the creative industries sector and to increase awareness of the CARIFORUM creative industries sector. To this end, the project has three main components: • Strengthening the capacity of the visual arts and crafts sub-sectors to respond to international market demands • Branding and marketing of the visual arts and craft sub-sectors, and • Strengthening data collection; management and dissemination The project, particularly components one and two, build on a CEDA initiative funded by the Canadian Trade Facilitation Of?ce which targeted craft producers and enterprises from several CARIFORUM countries. Five countries were targeted for the ?rst two components of the ITC-CEDA project: Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago. These ?ve countries were selected as they are among the region’s top exporters of creative products and the respective governments have a track record of support for industrial development and export facilitation in the creative sector. For instance, Jamaica has developed a National Export Strategy for Fashion Design, while the budgetary proposals made by the Barbados government in the recent budget presentation include a commitment of $50 million (BDS) over ?ve years to cultural practitioners, as well as a variety of tax relief measures and rebates for equipment. The ?rst two components of the project are synergistic. The project emphasizes creative entrepreneurship, which requires that ?rms respond to market demands, and entice consumers and audiences through strong branding and marketing strategies. The third component of the project is equally important as accurate and consistent data is needed for business and strategic planning. Why Promote the Creative Sector? Although CARIFORUM countries possess an abundance of creative talent, the economic role of the region’s creative industries sector has been largely undocumented and traditionally outside the scope of economic planning and development. Recognition of the need to diversify CARIFORUM countries‘ economic base has occasioned a paradigm shift (at least in rhetoric) in the way the creative industries are viewed by policy makers in some CARIFORUM countries. The ITC –CEDA project targets the craft and the visual arts sub-sectors. The focus on these two sub-sectors as opposed to the more widely touted music industry is not unjusti?ed as there is an international market for these products.
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Key Project Facts
Duration: Scope: Budget: Funding Agency: Lead Agency: Partners: September 2010 - September 2011 Fifteen CARIFORUM countries 1.15 million Euros European Union (EU) International Trade Center (ITC) Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO) Femmes en Democratie Export Promotion Agency of the DR (CEI-RD) National Entrepreneurship Development Company Ltd (NEDCO) Barbados Investment Development Corporation (BIDC) National support institutions CEDA, national support institutions, Micro, Medium, and Small Enterprises (MMSEs), Statistical Bureaus Policy-makers, non-targeted MSMEs Training workshops in product design and development, export marketing, and data collection Elaboration of an Export Marketing Strategy for the continued promotion of the Design Caribbean trade fair National Study on the performance and contribution of the creative industries sector to the economy (study being undertaken in T&T and will complement the similar study completed in Jamaica 2007 as well as on-going studies in the OECS) ‘Artesanias de Colombia’ Study Tour Design Caribbean website and emarketing platform
Target Groups:
Final Bene?ciaries: Some Key Activities:
Volume 3 July - September 2011
www.creativeindustriesexchange.com
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