KINGSTON, Jamaica (CMC) – The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) says it  has hosted the first meeting of the multilateral development banks (MDB) working group on the cultural and creative industries (CCI), also known as the Orange Economy, in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The IDB said the meeting, held in Washington DC last week, was organised in cooperation with the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the African Development Bank (AfDB), the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) and the World Bank Group.

“The purpose of the meeting was to exchange best practices, better understand and tackle existing challenges, increase MDB understanding of CCIs, and explore opportunities for collaboration with this dynamic sector,” the IDB said.

“This first meeting that we organised reaffirms the importance of the CCIs, a sector that not only contributes to the creation of jobs and wealth but also has the potential to catalyse innovation, permeating traditional development areas, such as health, education and gender equality, and bring about social cohesion and change,” said Trinidad Zaldivar, chief of the IDB’s Cultural, Solidarity and Creativity Affairs Division.

Despite the increasing interest in CCIs as an engine for development, the IDB said finding a systematic way to approach this sector still proves challenging.

“CCIs span multiple disciplines, making it difficult for public policy institutions to fully understand their structures and dynamics, as well as to figure out the best methodologies and instruments to leverage opportunities.”

In addition to the multilateral development banks, the working group meeting was attended by representatives from national development banks, creative economy experts, entrepreneurs, government officials, and delegates from other international institutions, the IDB said.

“We are honoured to have hosted at the IDB this very first meeting of the MDB working group on cultural and creative industries, and we look forward to our continued collaboration,” said Helga Flores, principal specialist at the IDB.

It said the Orange Economy refers to the economic activity in the intersection of culture, commerce and technology.

The Orange Economy includes sectors whose goods and services are based on intellectual property, such as film, fashion, design, video games, cultural heritage, among others, the IDB said.