Prime Minister Establishes a National Cultural and Creative Industries Commission
By: , March 26, 2014The Key Point:
The Facts
- The Creative Economy offers significant economic and development opportunities and Jamaica should position itself to leverage these opportunities.
- The Prime Minister noted that the success of the Commission would require the fulsome participation of all members.
The Full Story
Prime Minister the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller convened the first meeting of the National Cultural and Creative Industries Commission on Tuesday, March 25, at the Office of the Prime Minister.
The National Commission has been established on the instruction of the Prime Minister, and will be supported by a Technical Working Group administered within the Office of the Prime Minister, the members of which are drawn from across relevant government ministries and agencies and representatives of the industry. These entities were established to place specific emphasis on Creative Economy facilitation, as part of the Development initiatives of the Office of the Prime Minister.
The first meeting of the National Cultural and Creative Industries Commission (NCCIC) was attended by representatives of the Government, private sector, and cultural and creative sectors. The Prime Minister explained that the purpose of the Commission was to put her imperatives of planned development and joined up government at the forefront of policy development and planning for these most important industries.
According to Prime Minister Simpson Miller, the Creative Economy offers significant economic and development opportunities and Jamaica should position itself to leverage these opportunities while facilitating and empowering creative practitioners. “We need to recognize how important these industries are for both economic growth and national development imperatives”, said the Prime Minister, who also pointed to the global market value of the creative economy, which has been estimated at approximately US$1.6 trillion.
The Prime Minister noted that the success of the Commission would require the fulsome participation of all members, adding: “We need a partnership between the players in the industry and the Government because this industry will play an important part in our national development. We need to get it right.”
Among the deliverables expected from the Commission are a National Cultural and Creative Industries Policy and a Master Plan for the sustainable development of Cultural and Creative Industries.
At present, there is no overarching policy framework for the Creative Economy in Jamaica, which includes at least 13 sectors including traditional performing and visual arts as well as media, architecture, advertising, animation, other ICT based industries, fashion, sport, cuisine and others. Policy and public service delivery for these sectors continue to be administered across several ministries of government. Consequently, the Prime Minister highlighted that there is a need for a holistic and structured approach in the development of the policy and planning for development of these industries. She urged both the private and public sector to collaborate fully to fast track the completion of the policy development and planning process.