Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture) has released a report titled ‘Creative Dubai: Dubai’s Growing Cultural Industries’, which provides a comprehensive overview of Dubai’s cultural sector growth.
The report outlines Dubai’s potential to become a global cultural hub and a pioneer in cultural innovation as well as a roadmap for the development of the sector based on a seven-point approach.
‘Creative Dubai,’ the first report of its kind in the emirate, is in line with Dubai Culture’s efforts to implement projects that support the goals of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister, and Ruler of Dubai, to establish Dubai as the global creative economy’s capital by 2025.
H.H. Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairperson of Dubai Culture and Member of the Dubai Council, said 2021 was a special year in the country’s history because it marked the country’s 50th anniversary and hosted Expo 2020 Dubai, and that Dubai Culture will continue to support the UAE’s sustainable development journey in the next 50 years.
Sheikha Latifa bint Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Chairperson Dubai Culture
“Recognizing the importance of the creative economy as one of the catalysts for sustainable economic growth and driving innovation, we launched this report to provide a reference that will guide the development of Dubai’s cultural sector and anticipate its growth opportunities over the next decade. The cultural and creative industries in the emirate have left a clear economic and social imprint over the past 20 years, contributing to stimulating innovation in other sectors of the economy.”
The report proposes a set of seven enablers or growth accelerators, which include Infrastructure, Education, Entrepreneurship and Innovation, Talent Attraction, Funding, Regulation, and Public Participation.
Mr. Hala Badri, Director-General of Dubai Culture explained that the report contains detailed strategic recommendations for each of the six main sectors examined. Both private and public stakeholders will benefit from this research-based recommendations that enable them to make informed decisions on policies and initiatives that can be adopted within the framework of the emirate’s larger strategic plan.
The report’s statistics showed that Dubai’s cultural and creative sector contributed about 4.02 percent to Dubai’s total economic output and generated revenues of more than $10 billion in 2019 and the sector employed over 108,000 individuals accounting for 3.6 percent of all jobs in the emirate.
Similarly, the design industry contributed over $4.24 billion to Dubai’s GDP in 2019. The demand for cultural activities in Dubai is steadily increasing with households spending more on cultural activity.
According to the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Global Innovation Index 2020, the UAE ranks 34 out of 131 economies in terms of innovation. In the FutureBrand Country Index 2020, Dubai was listed among the top ten most influential cities in the world.
