Creative Industries Middle East

The Middle East is home to a vibrant and growing creative industry, encompassing various sectors that contribute to cultural, economic, and social development. The creative industries in the Middle East comprise a diverse range of activities, including traditional arts, contemporary design, film and television production, digital media, fashion, and more.

Middle East | Government

League of Arab States logo | Creative Industries Middle EastThe League of Arab States (Arabic: جامعة الدول العربية‎ Jāmiʻat ad-Duwal al-ʻArabiyya), commonly called the Arab League (Arabic: الجامعة العربية‎ al-Jāmiʻa al-ʻArabiyya), is a regional organization of Arab states in and around North Africa and Southwest Asia. It was formed in Cairo on 22 March 1945 with six members: Egypt, Iraq, Transjordan (renamed Jordan in 1949), Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Syria. Yemen joined as a member on 5 May 1945.
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Dubai to host the 2024 World Cities Culture Summit (WCCS)

DUBAI, 29th October, 2023 (WAM) — Dubai secured the bid to host and organise the 2024 World Cities Culture Summit (WCCS) from 30th October to 1st November 2024, marking the first time that the event will be hosted in the MENA region. The announcement was made during this year’s summit in Sao Paulo, Brazil, from 25th to 27th October, which was attended by a delegation from the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority (Dubai Culture).
> wam.ae/article/3uqfjp-dubai-host-2024-world-cities-culture-summit

Middle East and Cultural and Creative Sectors

According to CISAC, Africa and the Middle East are a rising market for Cultural and Creative Sectors (CCS), with US$58 billion in revenues (3% of worldwide CCS) and 2.4 million jobs (8% of worldwide CCS), according to EY (December 2015). In the CISAC comparison of CCS in worldwide regions, the growth seems to be high in the Middle East. The worldbank in 2017, estimates “creative industries are growing fastest, at more than 10% a year” in the Middle-East.

Numbers differ though for specific countries, as well as the characteristics of CCS vary from TV to games, and architecture to visual arts. The world bank for instance estimates creative industries to contribute 7% to the global GDP in Kuwait. CCS in other Middle East countries, such as the United Arab Emirates, are rising very fast.

Some countries have strong investment programs, based on cultural and creative industries policy. Beginning of 2018, the United Arab Emirates launched the UAE Cultural Development Fund, related to the Ministry of Culture and Knowledge Development. In this way, cultural activities and projects can be effectively supported.
> ecbnetwork.eu

Did you know?

The Middle East is a subcontinent with no clear boundaries. The term “Middle East” was popularized around 1900 in the United Kingdom; it has a loose definition traditionally encompassing countries or regions in Western Asia and parts of North Africa. The corresponding adjective to Middle East is Middle-Eastern and the derived noun is Middle-Easterner.

The history of the Middle East dates back to ancient times, and throughout its history the Middle East has been a major centre of world affairs. The Middle East is also the geographic origin of three of the world’s major religions – Christianity, Islam and Judaism. The Middle East generally has an arid and hot climate, with several major rivers providing for irrigation to support agriculture in limited areas. Many countries located around the Persian Gulf have large quantities of crude oil. In modern times the Middle East remains a strategically, economically, politically, culturally, and religiously sensitive region.

One widely used definition of the “Middle East” is that of the airline industry, maintained by the IATA standards organization. This definition — as of early 2007 — includes Afghanistan, Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Pakistan, Palestinian territories, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. This definition is used in world-wide airfare and tax calculations for passengers and cargo.