Abu dhabi: The Ministry of Culture has initiated a specialised training programme designed to update the Statistical Framework for the Creative Economy project. This effort is being executed in collaboration with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre, with additional support from the Ministry of Economy and Tourism and various statistical centres nationwide.
According to Emirates News Agency, the programme is part of the UAE’s continuous efforts to improve national statistical capabilities in monitoring data related to culture, arts, and the creative industries. This initiative is based on a unified global methodology adopted by WIPO in countries around the world.
Mubarak Al Nakhi, Under-Secretary of the Ministry of Culture, highlighted the significance of the programme, noting its role in advancing the national vision to create an integrated knowledge and statistical infrastructure that supports the creative economy. He emphasized the importance of this international partnership in building a high-quality national data ecosystem that will guide future policies and strengthen the ability to measure cultural and artistic investments.
Al Nakhi further stated the goal of reinforcing the UAE’s leadership in developing cultural statistics models through collaboration with WIPO and the Federal Competitiveness and Statistics Centre. This aims to empower decision-makers with tools and standards for effective policy formulation, enhancing the nation’s role as a regional and global leader in the creative economy.
Dimiter Gantchev, Acting Director of the CEDM Programme at WIPO, expressed satisfaction in collaborating with the UAE government on implementing the Creative Economy Data Model, marking the first such project in the Middle East. He emphasized its comprehensive overview of the ecosystem quality, supporting creative industries, and its role in identifying analytical data for policymaking.
The training programme enlists leading WIPO experts to refine national methodologies for data collection and analysis and support the development of performance indicators across culture, arts, and the creative economy. The updated statistical model aims to improve data collection accuracy, providing a foundation for consistent sector performance monitoring, including its economic growth contribution and cultural sustainability.
This initiative is in line with the National Strategy for the Cultural and Creative Industries, launched in 2021, which seeks to expand the sector’s scale, positioning it among the UAE’s top ten economic sectors, with a target contribution of 5% to GDP by 2031. The UAE is the first Arab country to adopt WIPO’s updated statistical model, underscoring its leadership in fostering creativity and innovation and further solidifying its status as a cultural and creative hub both regionally and globally.
