Noura bint Mohammed Al Kaabi, Minister of Culture and Youth, participated in a meeting of G20 ministers of culture, which was held remotely via video conferencing.
The meeting aimed to explore available opportunities and strengthen the role of the cultural sector in achieving sustainable economic development.
During the meeting, Al Kaabi highlighted the importance of tolerance to building bridges of communication among countries and creating links between communities.
“Creative and cultural industries have become drivers of economic growth, by creating job opportunities for young talents and helping achieve prosperity and development. The creative economy contributes significantly to global GDP, with annual proceeds amounting to nearly US$2.2 billion while over 30 million people work in this sector. Advanced technologies have also played a pivotal role in the development of this sector, making it one of the fasting developing sectors in the world,” she said.
The UAE has become a key regional player in the creative sector, due to its advanced infrastructure and legislative system, as well as its many investments in innovative complexes, free zones and cultural spaces that attract thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises and independent innovators, enabling them to present their cultural production to the world from the UAE, she added.
Al Kaabi noted that the Ministry of Culture is drafting a unified national strategy to support creative and cultural industries, and has established a specialist segment to generate initiatives and incentives to unleash the economic capacities of the sector.
The ministry has launched a comprehensive national survey to help assess the challenges facing the creative economy and workers in creative and cultural industries since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as the National Creative Relief Programme that provided 140 financial grants to creative individuals and companies valued at AED4.6 million.
Al Kaabi stressed the importance of the joint work of many countries in supporting creative and cultural industries, including training talents, launching policies and incentives aimed at achieving community prosperity, and providing more job opportunities for the youth.