Roadmap to revive cultural sector on the anvil — Tweissi

AMMAN — The Ministry of Culture is preparing a framework and roadmap to re-launch national cultural strategies that have been “absent” for decades, Culture Minister Bassem Tweissi said on Wednesday. 

In an interview with the Jordan News Agency, Petra, Tweissi said that the strategy is envisioned to create cultural development with the aid of modern scientific tools.

"We have to admit that there is a policy vacuum in the country’s cultural sector," the minister said, noting that the last time a plan for the ministry was put in place was during the 2006-2008 period. 

“Jordan has never had a national strategic framework for the cultural sector,” the minister said.

He said that the ministry had requested the University of Jordan's Strategic Studies Centre to conduct a survey on the cultural priorities according to the aspirations of intellectuals and youth.

Tweissi highlighted the importance of the creative economy, which is not "taken seriously", noting that this sector comprises traditional creative forms, such as arts, and modern digital technological applications. 

According to the minister, the creative economy comprises 10 to 11 per cent of global GDP, while Jordan “lacks clear figures” about the contribution of the creative economy to the country’s GDP.

He also noted that the ministry will soon announce the cultural business accelerator, the “first of its kind” in the Arab world to be specialised with culture and arts, adding that the ministry has already started building an alliance with seven public and private national institutions to provide a “proper environment” to support the project.