Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Portia Simpson Miller, has announced that a National Commission on Cultural and Creative Industries will be established.
The Commission will assist the Government in establishing the enabling policy and legislative frameworks, to maximise the benefits of the cultural and creative industries, she explained.
Mrs. Simpson Miller was making her contribution to the 2012/13 Budget Debate, in the House of Representatives, today (June 5).
“This process recognises that cultural and creative industries span sectors administered by nine ministries of government. This sector will see joined-up Government at work,” the Prime Minister noted.
She informed that the cultural and creative industries need to be given a much greater focus, as part of our economic development agenda.
“Whether it is our music, our cuisine, our dance and other forms of our artistic expression, they all represent significant value with tremendous economic potential in an increasingly globalised world,” the Prime Minister said.
She added that cultural and creative industries go beyond traditional arts and culture, to include architecture, software development, media and sport.
“All the elements involved in maximising the economic benefits from our cultural and creative activity cannot continue in an unplanned manner. We have to take a new approach to how we treat with our cultural and creative industries,” she said.
Mrs. Simpson Miller noted that this will require the development of a Cultural and Creative Industries Policy, which will consider and utilise a rapid advancement in technology and the strong Jamaican brand in the global marketplace.