The importance of Jamaica's creative industries to the economy and the island's international image was emphasised by several speakers at last week's '2009 Launch Showcase' of the Visual and Performing Arts Jamaica (VPAJ) at Jamaica Trade & Invest.

Among those stressing the point were Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Reginald Budhan, Director of Culture in the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sports, Sydney Bartley, and VPAJ Facilitator Trevor Fearon.

In the context of the creative-industries sector being "one of the fastest growing in the world economy," Budhan said that Jamaica had "the potential to develop our creative industries into a major economic sector, based on our demonstrated competitive advantages and the projected long-term growth of the global economy".

Currently, Budhan said, the cultural and creative industries worldwide represented some seven per cent