Seychelles: Establishing culture as a driving force for economic and social development
To develop its domestic cultural market, Seychelles elaborated a Culture Department Strategic Plan 2011-2015 which included a mapping study entitled ‘The General Overview of the Creative Industry in Seychelles’. This study emphasized some of the challenges faced by Seychelles, such as lack of training, weak industrial development, low circulation of cultural goods and services, lack of information on the rights of artists.
With the adoption of the 2010 Licensing Amendment Act and the 2010 Investment Act, the government of Seychelles sought technical assistance from UNESCO to assist cultural entrepreneurs in creating and marketing their cultural goods and services.
The aim of the project was to provide assistance to the Government for the elaboration of a Creative industries policy and music sector strategy, also leading to the establishment of a dedicated government-wide agency, the Seychelles Agency for Creative Industries.
The Creative Industries Policy recommends that a dedicated Seychelles Agency for Creative Industries be created to coordinate managing functions and deliver capacity-building activities.
The Implementation Strategy for Music Industry Development addresses the following main areas of intervention: product and service supply, organizational structure, investments, domestic market development, training, regulation and policy, digital technology and multi-media.
Please consult here a summary of the overall results of the missions and the future steps to be taken.
Two experts were selected by the government in order to provide assistance for the drafting of policies on the creative industries and an implementation strategy for the development of the music industry, and to set up a process of consultation with key stakeholders.
During their first country mission, the experts:
- met with key stakeholders, namely the ministries of Economy; Technology and Industry; Tourism; Education; Heritage and Culture, the National Arts Council; the National Conservatoire of Performing Arts; the National Library; the Seychelles Tourism Board; and numerous artists and cultural entrepreneurs.
- reviewed current policies in the country, strategic plans and implementation strategies in the areas of creative industry, cultural policy, finance and economics, ICT and communication, education and training, employment and social development and tourism.
- prepared a preliminary draft on the creative industry policy and a specific strategy for the music industry.
During their second country mission in March and April 2012, the experts:
- engaged in a consultation process to help draft policies and an implementation strategy together with the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, the Seychelles Heritage Foundation, the Consultative Committees, artists, partners and other stakeholders.
- assisted in the finalization of the policy frameworks, with a view to organize a validation workshop attended by the majority of cultural actors from both public and private sectors.