(CARICOM Secretariat, Turkeyen, Greater Georgetown, Guyana) Salutations… I have today, the pleasure and honour, as I did just over 3 years ago, in a similar setting, of addressing you as Co-Chair of the Regional Task Force on Cultural Industries. That previous occasion was the launch of the Task Force here at the Secretariat when we were embarking on a new and challenging assignment with a great deal of optimism: to prepare a Regional Development Strategy and Action Plan for the Cultural Industries in CARICOM.

Later today, my esteemed Co-Chair, Mr. Sydney Bartley, Principal Director of Culture of Jamaica, and other representatives of the Task Force, will present on behalf of the Task Force, the Draft Regional Development Strategy.

It is with a great sense of accomplishment and relief that we will do so, finally, since we know that as a Region, we ought to be putting a more facilitating framework in place to catalyze a sector that has already brought such significant benefits to Caribbean society.

We acknowledge a debt of gratitude to so many artists, in so many fields of endeavour, who have blazed regional and international trails and made us feel proud, recognized and validated as a people of immense talent, imagination, and resourcefulness.

While some of us are yet to come to terms with this great wellspring of potential, certainly in the global imagination, we are highly acclaimed, respected, even romanticized for our towering artistic expressions in music, visual art, fashion, literature, dance, theatre, carnival and other festivals.

Though the successes are irrefutable, you will hear from the Strategy that:

…the cultural industries continue to be underserved and underfinanced throughout the Region. Relatively little has been done in most Member States to incentivize and attract investment to the sector, to make them more competitive; yet the entire Caribbean stands on the shoulders of the region’s dynamic cultural prowess, realized by the sacrifices of a few. This must change.

We further state that: The Task Force wishes to highlight the need for a paradigm shift in the thinking and approach to the development of the cultural industries, with the foundation concept and mantra being: “Culture is the Region’s Business.”

As a Region we are in the business of culture. It defines and identifies and solidifies Caribbean society. But as with the forest and the trees, we have failed to recognize fully that this is so. It is our business because we produce it so well exploiting our natural competitive advantage.

Creativity is our business because we have had to survive and indeed to prosper in a world that was not overly concerned with our welfare. So turning creativity into viable enterprise has characterized our very existence and now, in the face of declining economic options, represents a huge reservoir of latent potential waiting for a catalyst to become a powerful new Caribbean brand.

The Task Force is convinced - and seeks to convince you with solid empirical evidence - that it is imperative to create the enabling environment for the cultural industries in CARICOM to thrive and flourish. The evidence demonstrates that the cultural and creative industries are among the most dynamic sectors in world trade today.

In 2008, the world financial crisis precipitated a fall in global demand and a contraction of 12 percent in international trade. However, world exports of creative goods and services continued to grow, reaching $593 billion in 2008; more than double their 2002 level, realizing an annualized growth rate of 14% over six consecutive years: This, according to the Creative Economy Report (2010) by UNCTAD and UNESCO.

That statistics bear serious consideration: Artists like Bob Marley, Elvis Presley, Michael Jackson and Selena have increased in popularity and continue to generate taxable income streams for individuals and businesses involved in the management and commercial exploitation of their multi-million dollar legacies. Ladies and Gentlemen, Marley is not just a legend… he is an Industry, as are Walcott, Minshal and Usain Bolt!

Earnings from the creative industries sector demonstrate significant resilience to natural disasters, economic downturns, and in the case of Buju Banton, even incarceration. Indeed, a small initial investment in intellectual property - be it digital image, lyrics, choreography or product design - can produce an enduring revenue stream without further continuous investment.

Nor do any of these require heavy public investment in physical infrastructure which then has its own high recurrent cost implications. The source of wealth of the cultural industries is often in the intangible. Such wealth is realized through leveraging intellectual property value in the form of royalties, licensing fees, collective administration and digital rights management. And in this area, the Caribbean has much to give and much to gain.

However, what the sector needs above all is an enlightened, informed policy environment, consistently accessible to practitioners and investors at national and regional level.

Yet each year, as we highlight in the Strategy, Caribbean nations forfeit significant potential revenue which could be derived from their top-earning artists and entrepreneurs. Unfortunately in the absence of an enabling environment, many of these artists either reside abroad, or have the major supporting elements of the value chain of their businesses, based outside our region.

The value chain being located outside the region means that for a major artist like Rihanna, who is a billion dollar business with 10-15,000 persons earning from her talent, has all her “back-end support” including artist management, administration, accounting, legal, marketing and promotion, image and catalogue management, provided by persons and companies based outside the region.

Put plainly, the Government of Barbados earns relatively little in taxes and other revenue, from their number one global export. Rihanna is not registered with COSCOP, the Barbadian Collecting Society, and neither Sean Paul, Beenie Man or Shaggy are registered with the Jamaican equivalent – JACAP. They are members of either the US-based ASCAP or the British equivalent, BMI.

We therefore need to further develop the infrastructure –particularly the IP legislation - to support major regional artists like Machel and Junior Gong and Anya Achong-Chee who recently won the highly visible Project Runway Competition, and who should not have to reside in New York to be commercially and financially viable.

Only then will the Region benefit from the lucrative value chain that is available and which can be generated at home if we invest in our artists by creating the necessary institutions, incentives and educational environment to develop the right expertise. We must not miss this proverbial boat.

The Task Force feels strongly that measures are urgently needed to bring the value chain back to the region. We also need to offer meaningful incentives to our top earners to attract their wealth to the region. This is the global standard and approach. Time needs to be spent by our policymakers and our financiers to understand this phenomenal sector so as to better respond to their needs.

One of the important ideas that was also advanced by Mr. Ivan Berry, Kititian music industry executive based in Canada, who was a resource person to the Task Force, is that the region does not only have to focus on exporting Caribbean cultural products but should be exporting our services, which are among the creative best by any standard. He says we should be writing songs for Beyonce; writing film scripts for Hollywood; and creating animation for Disney; so that our artists become better integrated into the international global entertainment business. This too is possible and must come to pass.

Also informing our report is significant research on best practice approaches to developing the cultural and creative industries. We have studied and been inspired by models from Ireland, the UK, Singapore, and Brazil. These examples provided showed how progressive public policy measures could significantly alter the creative industries landscape, For example:

The government of Canada assesses radio and television stations 1% of their marketing revenue from advertisements, which goes into a fund to give grants for the creation of local content such as films, music videos etc.

In Brazil, innovative legislation on public/private partnership helped to drive incremental investment in cultural centres for training, and for urban regeneration specific to heritage.

In the UK, the development of dedicated institutional support as well as the decentralization of grant making support, has enabled growth in employment and earnings, making the UK the world’s largest creative industries economy in terms of sector contribution to GDP.

Closer to home, Member States like Trinidad and Tobago have introduced of a tax rebate of 150% on investments in filmmaking.

Meanwhile, Trinidadian Economist, Professor Vanus James, has been conducting a series of studies on the contribution of copyright based industries to Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and the OECS. Using WIPO methodology, he estimates the economic contribution of Jamaica’s copyright sector in 2005 at J$29 billion. or 4.8 percent of GDP.

The sector also accounted for 3 percent of employment: some 32,032 jobs. In more developed market economies, the cultural and copyright industries typically account for 2-5% of GDP, so Jamaica’s statistics are in keeping with global averages.

James also contends in the report on Jamaica, that the copyright sectors are high productivity sectors in terms of returns on investment in capital. He finds that they demonstrate high domestic asset productivity and argues that the sector outperforms most other sectors in terms of these indicators. This provides compelling evidence for re-prioritizing financial and other support to the copyright sectors. He also points out that the sector shows education earnings productivity which compensates society with an advantageous rate of indirect tax revenues.

This is the basis for his recommendation that tax havens should be created in the Caribbean for high end producers and elite performers.

Notwithstanding, the cultural industries have strong (backward and forward) linkages with other sectors in the economy, especially tourism, ICT, trade and sports, and should be supported by targeted educational opportunities. Given the characteristic of “high domestic asset productivity” and strong inter-sectoral linkages, the creative sector therefore has the potential to serve a strong catalytic role in the development of the economies of Member States.

The critical success factors from the point of view of the Task Force are therefore:

Vision and Leadership – without which we all perish;

Progressive Public Policy – to remove dis-incentives to investment and growth and create in its place a enabling environment with appropriate incentives, legislation, business and ICT support.

Our top ten priority recommendations therefore are:

Develop national cultural policies to guide the development of the creative sector;

Agree on and implement an appropriate multi-sectoral package of harmonized fiscal and non-fiscal incentives to stimulate the development of the cultural and creative industries;

Agree on a harmonized regional exemptions regime for the cultural industries in the context of the CSME; This is a centerpiece of the strategy;

Enact Cultural Industry Development Acts in all Member States that will enshrine a multi-sectoral national system of incentives into law, clearly setting out eligibility criteria and benefits;

Ratify international treaties and conventions on culture and intellectual property and extend the period of intellectual property protection for copyright and related rights from 50 to 70 years after the death of the rights holder;

Establish sustainable, predictable and transparent financing mechanisms at the national and regional levels to support cultural industry development; (encourage innovation and artistic excellence and attract incremental investment while engaging development partners, investors and the Caribbean Diaspora globally);

Establish a Regional Cultural Industries Council to support the implementation of the Strategy and other dedicated institutional support at the national level to provide targeted support to the sector;

Implement the new CARIFESTA model as a showcase as well as the premier market place for professional networking and the trading of cultural/creative goods and services.

Strengthen educational programmes in the arts and support services at all levels in Member States; including vocational and short-term professional development programmes, multimedia technology training programmes, to support cultural entrepreneurship; and piloting a Performing Arts High School in each country;

Create national and regional registries of artists and cultural workers as integrated and searchable databases available in real time; and Expand the list of categories of artists and cultural workers eligible for free movement, recognizing the value and enhancing the overall status of the artist.

After three years of detailed and dedicated work, I would like to think that we will not fail to act, that we will not fail to prioritize. I have to believe that we will create the necessary institutional and financial supports so critical to this emergent economic platform which constitutes the creative economy. I would like to believe that we will embark on this most important enterprise of creating wealth and bringing new prosperity to the people of this Caribbean region.

Acknowledgements: Members of the Task Force and Resource Persons . Mrs. Myrna Bernard, Officer-in-Charge Human and Social Development Directorate . Dr. Hilary Brown and Mrs. Riane de Haas, Caricom Secretariat . The Hub and Spokes Regional Trade Project - funded by the EU through the Commonwealth Secretariat . UNESCO . Government of Spain.

Contact: piu@caricom.org
             caricompublicinfo@gmail.com