Revised National Culture Policy drafted
KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Government has completed a draft of the revised National Culture Policy that will reflect current sector trends and drive economic growth.
This was disclosed by Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport Minister Olivia Grange, during her 2017/18 Sectoral Debate presentation in the House of Representatives yesterday.Major issues addressed in the Policy are Culture for the Promotion of Social Health and National Well-being; Repositioning Culture in Education; Culture Creativity and Innovation; and Culture, Heritage and Promotion of Museums and Artefacts.Other areas include Culture and the Creative Economy, with particular emphasis on Training and Human Capital; Financing; Research and Development; the Creative Economy and Marketing; the Creative Economy and Tourism; and the Creative Economy and the Festival Economy.Grange said the policy framework will help to generate a multiplier effect in culture, the creative industries, entertainment and sport.“We recognise the challenges facing the cultural and creative sector and its practitioners and are committed to significant structural reforms to create an enabling environment for the development of a viable, sustainable creative economy,” she assured.Grange further noted that the Policy, titled ‘National Policy on Culture and Creative Economy of Jamaica 2017-2027’, will provide a framework for creative and cultural goods and services to become major contributors to the economy’s transformation.“We are shaping a framework that facilitates economic growth and development through positive adjustments to (the) existing gross domestic product (GDP) and supports the creation of new jobs and wealth-creation mechanisms,” she stated.The minister added that the policy also ensures an increase in the number of growing small and medium-sized businesses and the “legitimisation” of all cultural and creative business activities.