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Undoubtedly, the Caribbean scores highly in terms of talent in the entertainment industry.
It is therefore not
surprising that CARICOM states and the Dominican Republic made the culture/entertainment sector a major negotiating issue in the negotiations towards an Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union. Many cultural industry professionals will argue, however, that the sector has achieved some measure of export success in spite of governments, not because of them. (For instance, most governments still maintain prohibitively high import duties on products that are inputs to creative activities). To date, all CARICOM states have failed to put in place strategies and concrete actions to take advantage of the market access granted by European countries and other facilities in the EPA. The region has been tardy at capitalizing on the emerging international economic opportunities o?ered by the EU, international institutions and others that would help the region expand the creative economy. Furthermore, no one has systematically researched and developed market niches, outside national and diaspora markets. As the region confronts rapid changes in technologies and business model transformations, it is additionally plagued by internal bottlenecks. It consequently remains behind the curve in strategic action and policy making. Around the world, the cultural or creative industries are increasingly being perceived as an economic sector in their own right and are highly prioritized in national agendas. In the UK, a Minister for Creative Industries was appointed in 2005. France set up comprehensive special framework programmes. In 2006, the European Commission published a 300-page study on the economic importance of the cultural sector. Public players from Brazil, China, India and Australia have organised national and international expert conferences and founded new research institutions specialising in creative industries. More recently, organisations such as the ITC, OECD, World Bank, WIPO, ILO, UNESCO and UNCTAD have increasingly addressed the topic. When the European Ministers for Culture and the Media met in Berlin in February 2007, a great number of European states pressed for more emphasis on cultural/creative industries. Consumption dynamics, innovation technology, talent, diversity, training and collaboration as well as capital investment and marketing are considered key drivers of the creative economy. Of these, the most critical needing development in the Caribbean are capital investment and marketing, technology, training and collaboration. Caribbean creative entrepreneurs additionally face the limitations of small niche and diaspora markets in large economies. But the success of Rihanna demonstrates that it is possible look to wider audiences for the elusive market. So just how should the Caribbean approach creative entrepreneurial development? Highly recommended is a multi-pronged technical assistance strategy that projects our artists globally. Promoting creative entrepreneurship requires the development of infrastructure, investment and product supply. It also implies the development of domestic and international markets, professionalism and training, regulation, policy and new technology and multimedia. It envisages concrete measures by the relevant actors, including donors, governments, private institutions and regional bodies. It should be noted that attempts by governments to promote exports of entertainment services from the CARICOM region are relatively new. Although some had focused generally on the culture sector before, most countries only started looking seriously at this issue within the past 5-7 years. The following recommendations are aimed at assisting the region to take concrete steps towards driving this economic sector. They include the reorganization of the key stakeholders in the industry and maximizing on the sector s economic value which remains largely un-documented and untapped.
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Volume 5 July - September 2013
www.creativeindustriesexchange.com
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