Reviving The Cultural Industry To Harness Growth

Accueil / World Business / Facts and figures / Reviving The Cultural Industry To Harness Growth

Reviving The Cultural Industry To Harness Growth

04 juin 2021 14:15

No sector of the global economy has been safe from the negative effects of the Coronavirus pandemic. While some have received prompt attention from their governments and international development partners, others have been side-lined in spite of their vital role in creating jobs and offering other important services to the population. One such area that has been calling for support and visibility in the efforts to revive world economy following the Covid-19 challenge is the cultural industry. Movie production and film projection, theatrical performances and other works of art have gone to slumber because of the measures taken to protect life from the pandemic. A report made public on 21 May, 2021 by the World Bank and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), highlights the role played by culture in boosting the world`s economy. The report entitled: “Cities, Culture, Creativity: Leveraging Culture & Creativity for Sustainable Urban Development & Inclusive Growth,” announced a joint initiative to foster the revival and development of urban cultural and creative industries. The fact that the culture industry provided nearly 30 million jobs in 2013 across the world with an annual global revenue of $2,250 billion or three per cent of the GDP demonstrates how useful the sector can be at this time of global uncertainty due to the Covid-19 crisis. Covid-19 only came to add to already existing problems like climate change, sustainable and resilient economic recovery endeavours. There is need to diversify solutions to the various challenges that humanity keeps facing. Past efforts to tap from the cultural industry to improve on the living conditions of the population will certainly be most welcome. Already, on 13 July, 2017 the Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova and the Director of Social, Urban, Rural and Resilience Global Practice of the World Bank; Sameh Wahba signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to `invigorate the two institutions` joint commitment to advance sustainable development by investing in culture, urban development, and resilience in an integrated manner.` Covid-19 has simply come to reinforce the need for such an initiative to intensify. By exposing the experiences and advantages of urban culture and creativity across Asia, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and so on, the World Ba...