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However, projects like this are not enough by themselves to transform the CARIFORUM creative industries sector into an engine for growth and economic development. To ful?ll this role, the creative industries sector as a whole and its constituent subsectors require more targeted and sustained interventions and investments by the Government, regional bodies, national stakeholders and educational institutions, as well as increased investment by cultural entrepreneurs and artists. While design workshops are useful and the feedback by participants has been positive, there is the need for improved training at the tertiary level for local craft and visual artists through courses which focus not only on creativity but the business side of the industry. There is also the need for better enforcement and updated legislation in some CARIFORUM countries to protect artists’ intellectual property and resale rights, as well as greater awareness by the artists themselves of their rights and of the export opportunities which exist under the various trade agreements their home countries have signed. Additionally, the impact of this project will be short-lived if there is no follow-up by policy makers in terms of the initiatives started or the recommendations made. Thankfully, when asked how likely they were to apply the lessons learnt, all of the respondents in the study tour to Colombia, indicated “very likely”. This is an encouraging sign and it is hoped that such followup will indeed be done. Overall it can be argued that through this project CARIFORUM countries stand to bene?t from the ITC’s technical assistance and its strong expertise and experience in trade data analysis and capacity building. The project also bene?tted from the expertise of CEDA which has facilitated trade, research and capacity building in the regional creative industries sector for several years. However, one of the key criticisms that could be made is that there was limited consultation with stakeholders at the national level during the project’s design. Secondary consultations only took place after the design of the project had been already decided. However, any critique in this regard also bears in mind the project’s tight timeframe. This only e mphasizes the need for regional governments and agencies to expand investment in the sector and to build institutional capacity rather than being overly reliant on externally funded projects with short life cycles. Longer-term interventions and strategic planning are needed if the CARIFORUM creative industries sector is to realistically contribute to regional development and export diversi?cation. One thing that warrants consideration is whether a project like this can help CARIFORUM cultural entrepreneurs capitalize on the market access concessions granted by the European Union (EU) under the CARIFORUM-EC Economic Partnership Agreement (CARIFORUM-EC EPA). The EU has granted duty-free access to CARIFORUM countries’ cultural goods, while CARIFORUM and EC countries have agreed to facilitate the entry into and temporary stay in their territories for up to 90 days (in any twelve month period) of artists and other cultural professionals and practitioners under certain conditions. The ease with which CARIFORUM artists are allowed to enter EU countries would be contingent upon immigration and visa requirements. Moreover, to be considered an artist, cultural professional and practitioner, persons must operate under registered businesses or contractual service suppliers (CSS) and possess at least three years of professional experience. As previously mentioned, many of the region’s visual and craft artists are not full-time but practice their trade part-time. This poses a problem for market access as there is currently no regional
Volume 3 July - September 2011
accreditation board or any way of certifying who is a professional artist in CARIFORUM. While the project’s product development training programmes focus primarily on the perspective of European markets in terms of quality and branding, it is up to CARIFORUM countries themselves to tackle the problems of accreditation of cultural practitioners if market access for the region’s creative goods and services is to translate into market penetration. Despite this, there are opportunities that can be explored. Colombia has shown interest in inviting producer delegations from the region to exhibit at their annual fair and there is already a goods-only Colombia-CARICOM trade agreement which unfortunately remains under utilised by CARICOM countries. Moreover, the Design Caribbean trade fair can serve as a launching pad for future exports. It is hoped that CEDA, which is the organizer of the Design Caribbean trade fair, had tracked the ?ows of actual sales as well as orders made during the fair. Such data will be useful in highlighting the actual and potential ?nancial bene?ts such a trade fair can offer to regional producers. Further information on this ITC-CEDA project and its constituent activities and outputs may be obtained by visiting the project’s webpage: www.intracen.org/projects/cariforum-creatives/ and its Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/CariforumCreatives/106441792782510. The author is extremely grateful to Ms. Jeanette Sutherland, Senior Trade Promotion Of?cer at the ITC, for providing background materials and insights which were invaluable in the writing of this critique.
Sources: http://www.nationnews.com/articles/view/help-for-culture-industry-lauded/ http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/ditctab20103_en.pdf
Photographer: Kerron Lemessy
www.creativeindustriesexchange.com
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