Cape design exports - ranging from recycled bottle top mats to bed linen - are being snapped up from Mumbai to Hong Kong and are increasingly contributing to local job creation and wealth generation.
UNESCO estimated international trade in cultural goods and services at $387 billion in 1998, according to the dti’s 2007 Craft Sector Development Strategy document. Many creative industry sub-sectors are expanding by at least three times the average economic growth rate. In 1998 the five largest exporters of cultural goods and services were Japan, the USA, Germany, the United Kingdom and China.
Local creative industry export figures are difficult to ascertain, says the dti. But the SA craft sub-sector alone is estimated to contribute about R2 billion to GDP (0.14%) and provide jobs and income for over 38000 people through at least 7000 micro and small enterprises.
Crafts could contribute R5 billion to GDP and 20 000 more jobs by 2015 if supported by more targeted interventions.
