The following are highlights of some of the activities completed under the project:
Study Tour Colombia
During 20-24 September 2010, a delegation of Caribbean representatives participated in a study tour to Colombia. The Caribbean delegation was headed by Minister Olivia Grange, Minister of Culture, Youth, and Sport, Jamaica and Champion for the Caribbean on issues related to culture. The delegation also included representatives from the Caribbean Export Development Agency, the Export Development Unit of the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, national trade support institutions, and the University of the West Indies.
| Given Colombia’s success story in developing its craft sector, it was an opportunity for their neighboring countries to learn about some of their experiences and good practices in developing and branding the craft and artisanal sector targeted to high-end and niche markets. The study tour also provided an opportunity to network and to develop south-south market linkages.As a result of the tour, Caribbean Export invited senior official from the sector in Colombia to visit the Caribbean to continue to share experiences and to provide advisory input to the preparation of the Design Caribbean Trade Fair to take place in 1-4 September 2011. |
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Click here for the agenda of the Colombia Study Tour.
Click here for presentations made during the tour.
Regional Training Seminar
ITC, in collaboration with WIPO, implemented a training seminar on Assessing the Economic Contribution and Performance of Creative Industries to National Economies. The three-day workshop took place in Castries, Saint Lucia 29-31 March 2011 and was opened by the country’s Minister of Commerce, Industry, and Consumer Affairs, the Honorable Charlotte Tessa Mangal. Minister Karl Samuda, Ministry of Industry, Investment, and Commerce, Jamaica also made an intervention at the event.
The objectives of the seminar were to:
• strengthen the capacity of national and regional statistical offices to collect, analyze and disseminate economic data on creative industries sector and
• increase awareness among policy makers and development partners on the extent and specificity of the sector’s data related challenges.The seminar targeted officials from national and regional statistical bureaus and policy makers from the ministries of trade and finance. About 60 persons attended the training, and included representatives from national and regional statistical bureaus; ministries of trade and finance; CARICOM Secretariat; the Economic Commission of Latin America and the Caribbean; the University of the West Indies; and international development partners.
It is clear that one training intervention is not sufficient to address the technical needs of the region with regards to data collection. The underlying goal of the seminar was to use the event as leverage for further work in this area. Under the lead of the CARICOM Secretariat’s Head of Statistics, the participants indicated an intent to request their Member States to take advantage of the technical assistance offered by the WTO to continue capacity strengthening in this area.
The ministers of St Lucia and Jamaica also invited the ITC, along with the other participating development partners, to present at the 32nd Council of Trade and Economic Development (COTED) meeting to continue the advocacy work for data collection in the Creative Industries sector before the council of ministers. This meeting took place 18-20 May 2011 in Georgetown, Guyana. ITC and WIPO made presentations on behalf of UNCTAD, WTO, WIPO, and ITC.
Click here for the agenda from the regional training seminar.
Click here for seminar presentations and opening and closing remarks from Minister Mangal.
Click here for video excerpt from the closing press conference.
Design Training Workshops
Under Component I, entrepreneurs/producers from five countries (Barbados, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Jamaica, and Trinidad & Tobago) were selected to participate in the design training workshops.
The aim of the training is to help producers improve the quality of the design of their products, making them more marketable in international markets, particularly niche and high-end markets. The immediate expected result of the training is to have new product lines developed which would be eligible for exhibition at the Region’s upcoming new trade fair, Design Caribbean.Each country received two sets of training, one of five days duration and the other of two days. The training focused on three core areas:
1. Product Development
• creating new design
• complying to local and international standards
• addressing the product deficiencies
• creating jobs
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2. Development of Production Capacities
• training on new designs
• creating awareness of handcrafts quality specifications
• addressing production problems |
3. Development of Branding and Marketing Capacities
• designing logos and trademarks
• designing promotional materials
• designing & promoting product mix
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Click here for some technical designs of the products to be developed under the training and video excerpts of the training and participants’ feedback.
Click here for web-album showing samples of prototypes.
Click here to view the catalogue on the collection: Contemporary Caribbean Design.
Project Closure Workshop
ITC, in collaboration with Caribbean Export, held the project closure workshop in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago on 27-28 September. The closing session provided a forum to:
- share some of the key project activities and deliverables
- share some good practices and lessons learned; and
- discuss options for next steps.
Participants were exposed to various models (both international and from within the Caribbean) of good practices contributing to successful creative enterprises. They also had the opportunity to hear from two key regional institutions, Caribbean Export Development Agency and the CARICOM Secretariat, on these institutions' policy and operational plans for promoting the region's creative industries.
The forum brought together a range of stakeholders from the sector including from sector and business associations, national support institutions, chambers of commerce, academia, and ministries of government.
Click here for agenda.
Click here for workshop presentations.