Impact Study: UNESCO-Aschberg Programme for Artists and Cultural Professionals

Increasing institutional support in the Caribbean The Caribbean’s institutional landscape of relevance to the EPA’s implementation involves a greater number of countries and profoundly different regulatory capacities. This study cannot provide an exhaustive picture of all the institutions involved but merely sketches some trends in institutional development. Next to the joint CARIFORUM-EU institutions that were established, the CARIFORUM and the CARICOM Secretariats have played an important role, in particular by raising awareness of EPA opportunities and by coordinating its implementation in the cultural sector. One example is the Regional Strategic Plan for Services, for eight priority services sectors, which includes cultural and entertainment services that has been mandated by CARIFORUM Ministers. While national consultations with stakeholders on this Regional Strategic Plan have already been completed in some countries such as Trinidad and Tobago, CARICOM is still engaging other Member States to gather their respective inputs. The final Plan is due for mid-2019 17 . It is also noteworthy that Caribbean governments and other key domestic stakeholders have begun increasing institutional support to the creative sector and are implementing new organizational frameworks. At the national level, several governments have articulated cultural policies, created creative trade agencies and established artists’ registries. For instance, the Barbados government published a Cultural Industries Bill in 2013 that offers a range of tax and fiscal incentives to facilitate growth in the sector.

31 Culture in the CARIFORUM-EU EPA

17. See Feature address by Senator Hon. Ms Payla Goppee-Scoon, Minister of Trade and Industry of Trinidad and Tobago, Creative and Cultural Industries Workshop, 27 March 2019, Port of Spain, at https://tradeind.gov.tt/ttcsi-workshop-speech/ .