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Last night, we showed you the Caribbean Development Bank’s Annual Press Conference, from St. Michael’s Barbados.  

And while that 90 minute session was a morning event, in the evening, the CDB held a reception for a new initiative called CIIF Connect. CIIF is short for the Cultural and Creative Industries Innovation Fund - and it’s an attempt to harness the significant cultural creativity in the Caribbean as a driver of employment and economic growth.  

Director of Projects Daniel Best explained at last night’S reception in Christ Church Barbados:

Mr. Daniel Best - Director of Projects, CDB
"The potential of the cultural industry to drive regional economic growth remains largely untapped because we are now realizing how viable and critical this sector is for the Caribbean economy. According to research conducted by the World Intellectual Property Organization, over the period 2008 to 2014, the contribution of copyright based activities in CDB borrowing member countries was as high as 8 percent of GDP. CIF builds upon CDB's long standing adhoc work in the sector, notably in animation, fashion, film and music. CIF therefore represents a step forward in our engagement in the cultural industries sector. The CDB adopted a more deliberate and targeted strategy. Projects must demonstrate a significant measure of innovation, collaboration and sustainability. 3 key pillars of economic growth and development."

Lisa Harding - Technical Cooperation Division, CDB
"When we launched in December, we also issued our first call for proposals and this focus on the enabling environment. Why the enabling environment? We feel that with most of the issues affecting micro, small and medium enterprises, the enabling environments basically are the foundation and therefore we wanted to have that foundational aspect covered because that is where the creative entrepreneur operate and this is where you need to have strong frameworks."

The deadline for grant applications is at the end of this month.