Statistics on Cultural Industries - International Trade Centre

3. Goal and Objectives3.1 Development GoalThe overall goal of the project is to strengthen the capacity of the relevant ministries of thegovernment of the Royal Kingdom of Bhutan to achieve its stated development objective ofencouraging people to diversify their economic activities away from the agricultural sector andsupport the development of private small and medium-sized enterprise (SMEs), especially in thecultural industries sector.The proposed technical assistance project will put in place the data mechanisms needed tomeasure activities in the cultural industries sector at the national and regional levels as a meansfor better-informed policy-making and planning related to cultural industries. By enabling theNSB and other national institutions to produce the information required by cultural researchersand policy makers to identify the potential and needs of the cultural industries sector, the projectis also facilitating the development of a supportive policy environment founded on evidencebasedpolicy development. To reach this goal, a significant amount of national capacity buildingis needed.3.2 ObjectivesThe development objectives of the project are:•To enhance the national capacity and improve the statistical foundation for policyformulation and planning for the cultural industries sector as a component in nationaleconomic development strategies. The specific national development objectives are:–––––––decreasing income-poverty and hunger;creating jobs for the increasing number of youth who leave school with expectations ofdoing things other than going back to subsistence farming and animal husbandry;transferring a large percentage of the poor population from occupation in agricultureto productive areas in other sectors of the economy;increasing productivity in agriculture and in the labour market;supporting the sustainable development of communities in both rapidly growingurban centres and rural and remote areas;supporting the development of private enterprise (SMEs), and;increasing the competitiveness of Bhutanese trade and enterprise. 13• To build national capacities necessary for producing high quality statistical documents oncultural industries, including craft and heritage industries for the use of policy makers andother stakeholders in the cultural industries sector.• To contribute to a more complex understanding of the impact and development potentialof cultural industries within the framework of the Jodhpur Initiatives and the identification ofmore sustainable and relevant development models.13. Bhutan Common Country Assessment 2005, draft text, Sept. 16, 2005, (Chapter 1-3).75