Georgetown : 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.
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$624 Billion in 2011.
