The Orange Economy/Cultural and Creative Industry

The Orange Economy/Cultural and Creative Industry continues to contribute meaningfully to our beloved country by allowing persons to utilize their innate abilities in expressive forms of art and cultural activities.

There are currently a number of tax incentives given to persons who make contributions toward art and culture as seen below:

1. Increase in the allowances for sponsorship of art and culture, sporting activities or events of sportsmen, the local fashion industry, audio, visual or video productions for the purpose of local education or entertainment as well as local production companies in respect of their own productions from $6m to $12m.

2. Introduction of an Allowance for expenditure on heritage properties of 150% of the actual expenditure incurred up to a maximum of $1m.

Additionally, through the Ministry of Trade and Industry, SME’s in the Creative industry can apply for the Grant Fund Facility. Through this facility SME’s in the creative industry can access individual Grants from the fund up to a maximum of $250,000 per beneficiary to finance 50% of the cost of the acquisition. The Grant does not cover working capital, land and building costs, and installation costs.

Funding is specifically for the acquisition of new machinery, equipment, technology/software for businesses involved in the development/sale of intellectual property of a cultural nature such as: film (including animation), fashion, music, dance, theatre, visual and performing arts, broadcasting, literature and publishing, heritage festivals including Carnival.

Despite the existence of these measures, we would like to put forward the following measures for further incentivizing this sector.

Promotion of the Orange Economy The ‘orange economy’ refers to a range of economic activities in cultural and creative industries where the main objective is “the production or reproduction, promotion, distribution or commercialization of goods, services and activities of content derived from cultural, artistic or heritage origins.” One key characteristic of these sectors is that their services and products rely on talent, creativity and intellectual assets as the main input.

Here are five reasons why the orange economy is important for creating jobs:

1. Cultural and creative industries contribute to creating approximately 30 million jobs worldwide.

2. Youth and women make up a significant part of the orange economy.

3. The creative industries can offer opportunities for more sustainable economic growth.

4. The cultural and creative sectors are among the most rapidly growing sectors in the global economy.

5. Recognizing growth, many governments are now investing in the orange economy.