The development of cultural and creative industries (CCI) as a field of activity providing the production of cultural products and implementing cultural services is envisaged as one of the main directions of state cultural policy. The Ministry of Culture has taken various measures and drafted several plans to develop CCIs. Research on the role of the CCI sector in the world economy, the local situation in the Azerbaijani context, the contribution of CCIs to the Azerbaijani economy, shortcomings in this area, and public-private investigations into partnerships and partnership gaps were conducted.
The Culture and Creative Industries Forum, organised by the Ministry of Culture from 28th to 30th November 2023, attracted up to 500 participants. The forum was aimed to discuss the prospects for cooperation and existing issues among players in the CCI ecosystem and explore opportunities for the comprehensive development of the creative industries. The programme featured seven-panel sessions and three round tables covering various clusters of cultural and creative sectors, including art, design, cinema, and audio-visual fields, as well as topics on international cooperation, export prospects, and state policy in this area. Both local and international speakers participated in the discussions.
Activity direction “Ensuring the dynamic development of Cultural and Creative Industries (CCI) and strengthening the export potential in this field” of the Action Plan of the Socio-Economic Development Strategy of the Republic of Azerbaijan for 2022-2026 (No.3378 of July 22, 2022) envisages creation of a modern legal and regulatory infrastructure for the development of CCI, including the formation of regulatory and legal, statistical bases, intellectual property, as well as management mechanisms; support for the formation of CCI as an industry and the activities of market participants, including the improvement of the production base and promotion of sectoral clustering; creation of certificate programs and a special scholarship program for study abroad following the requirements of modern and competitive CCI fields; and creation of incentive mechanisms aimed at expanding export opportunities for CCI.
The second activity area of the Action Plan, named “Promoting the development of a cultural and creative society”, envisages the implementation of educational initiatives that promote the development of skills in the cultural and creative fields; establishment and operation of media platforms in the cultural and creative field; and supporting the development of creative fields within the framework of promoting Azerbaijani culture.
Since the commencement of the Strategy implementation:
- A special Scholarship Programme for Cultural and Creative Industries (az) has been established. Financial support has been granted to 20 individuals for their education abroad.
- Within the framework of the Grant Programme, financial support was provided for the implementation of projects proposed by four nongovernmental organisations in 2023 and twenty-nine NGOs in 2024.
- “Creative Week”, “Cultural and Creative Industries Forum”, and “Cultural and Creative Industries Exhibition” (MY EXPO) were established. Two Creative Weeks and one Digital Creative Weekend took place.
- At the awards ceremony during the 11th India International Film Tourism Conclave (IFTC) in Mumbai, Azerbaijan was recognised as the most popular filming destination of the year for Indian directors and producers.
- Support was provided to produce several audio-visual products in the country based on orders from Indian, Serbian, Pakistani, and Russian companies. Approximately 10 million US dollars of funds entered the country’s economy through film commission services in 2023-2024.
- The Global Innovation Index 2024 report assessed the country on the sub-indicator “7.2.3. Entertainment and Media Market,” Azerbaijan ranked 47th among 133 countries.
- The “Al4Art” and other short-term education and training programs, as well as the “Cultech”, “Gametech”, and “Music” incubation programs, were implemented, and 444 people were certified.
- Forty start-ups and 10+ new educational programs have been implemented.
The number of CCI subjects increased significantly by the end of 2024 compared to 2022. Thus, the total number of business entities under CCI rose from 21,022 to 22,852 units, and the number of enterprises engaged in CCI rose from 5,886 to 6,826 units.
Joint events on export promotion and the formation of the Eastern Pan-Regional Market in the field of CCI were held:
- 1st Humour Festival of the Turkic World (2023);
- National final of innovative start-ups in collaboration with A-Hub-ICESCO (2023);
- ATA festival -1st International Festival of Turkic World Animation (2024);
- World final of innovative start-ups together with ICESCO A-Hub (2024);
- G-Hub Summit on Gaming Technologies (2024);
- Audio-visual market of Eastern countries “OMarket” (2024).
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