CARIFESTA is an opportunity for Caribbean cultural entrepreneurs to showcase their services and their goods to the world.
This view was expressed by Culture Minister, Stephen Lashley, who implored entrepreneurs to make use of the upcoming Caribbean Arts Festival as a platform to further their brands.
He was delivering the feature address at the media launch of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, held at the Cave Hill School of Business under the theme “Building Sustainable Businesses”.
Mr. Lashley urged entrepreneurs to consider the benefits of developing a strategy to promote their products and services during the 10-day festival.
“I hope you’ve thought a lot about the creative sector. There are many opportunities, within the CARIFESTA experience…I want you to factor in how business and entrepreneurs will respond to the opportunity of CARIFESTA,” he said.
Minister Lashley also advised entrepreneurs that such creative ventures should be leveraged for international visibility, as their success will soon become a more mainstream source of economic development.
“This event is not just another CARIFESTA, it focuses on the empowerment of men and women through the creation of business ideas that can be transformed into products and services the rest of the world wants,” the Culture Minister noted.
According to the Mr. Lashley, the country now has to “rely even more on creative [sectors] to drive economic development.”
One way persons may market their goods and services during the regional arts festival, is by taking part in the CARIFESTA XIII Grand Market and Buyers’ Shopping Mall.
For more information, interested persons may contact the Cultural Industries Development Authority’s Senior Business Development Officer, André Hoyte, at 621-2700.
CARIFESTA XIII will be held in Barbados from August 17 to 27, 2017.
jamal.weekes@barbados.gov.bb
