Culture Ministry and Israeli agency launch business lab on cultural enterprise - Participants to take part in one-week workshop
The Ministry of Culture Youth and Sport in collaboration with MASHAV, an Israel agency responsible for international development, the Golda Meir Mount Carmel International Training Centre MCTC and Young Americas Business Trust (YABT) launched a Business Lab in Culture Enterprises which will provide young entrepreneurs with guidance and support to generate feasible and creative ideas to assure new businesses in the culture industry.
This project will see about 30 young Guyanese who are involved in the creative arts sector being given the opportunity to take part in a one-week workshop which will allow them to gain knowledge about cultural business entrepreneurship and undergo hands-on experience in marketing.
During brief remarks at the opening ceremony which was held at the Umana Yana, Kingston, Prime Minister Samuel Hinds encouraged the participants to stay through the workshop and make full use of the opportunity presented to them.
Prime Minister Samuel Hinds, Minister of Culture Youth
and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony and Israeli Ambassador to
Guyana, Amiram Magid along with the facilitators and
participants at the opening ceremony of a Business Lab
in Culture Enterprises at the Umana Yana, Kingston
He stated that that with the history and social backgrounds that Guyana possesses, one has to start with ideas of the market place, what is offered, what is accepted and what the market is willing to pay. However, he said that training such as the one which they are undergoing opens a person’s mind that economic work needs to be done, and to learn from anyone who knows how.
PM Hinds added that there is no doubt that Israel; a relatively small country that has a small population has been very good at making its people productive in a wide range of areas, from agricultural to historical type of activities and there is much that Guyana can learn from them.
Minister of Culture Youth and Sport, Dr. Frank Anthony said that this training, in setting up and managing small and medium sized businesses is not new to Guyana, as government has been conducting similar programmes for young people.
Minister Anthony said that owning a business is quite a gratifying experience, but once properly managed, it can be financially rewarding. However, he told the participants that success does not come overnight, and encouraged them to work hard in order to achieve their individual goals.
Minister Anthony said that for Guyana’s economy to grow, the traditional sectors must continue to expand, and new areas and sectors must be cultivated and developed. He said that there has been a systematic investment to develop the culture industry businesses which falls under two categories, those that create content and those that provide service.
“By investing in this sector we have seen rapid growth in our economy,” Minister Anthony added. Just recently, the United Nations released the creative economy report 2013 in which it revealed that world trade of creative goods and services total a record of US$624Billion in 2011.
Minister Anthony further stated that Guyana has a strong creative sector; however, the challenge has always been how to harness the potentials of this sector to make it a vital part of the economy.
“To do this it is important that we develop cultural entrepreneurship, men and women whose creativity and talent can be used to create new and innovative businesses, but to do so we need to change the environment and make it more fertile so that the creative industry and businesses can grow,” the Minister said.
This workshop will certainly give participants the tools to start up their own businesses. Minister said that the training is different from other small business training because it targets the development of non-traditional businesses.
Minister Anthony urged persons in the private and non-governmental sector to rethink their approaches to cultural business. “Let us not straight jacket ourselves to just the traditional sectors, let us be bold and expand in these new and innovative areas,” he said.
Meanwhile, Israeli Ambassador to Guyana, Amiram Magid said that the programme will be interesting and refreshing and will benefit Guyana.
He said that Israel has dedicated a lot of time in the Caribbean, and has been working and conducting similar programmes in countries such as, Belize, St Vincent, Trinidad and Tobago and St Lucia.
In addition to lectures by the Israeli team, there will be an emphasis on practical exercises undertaken in group work and at the end of the programme; the participants will present their simulated enterprises to a panel of investors and other officials.
Present at the event were representatives from cultural organisations and groups, and other members of the diplomatic corps.