Are you creative? Of course you are. Who isn’t? It may not surprise you that the cultural and creative industry is one of the world’s largest sectors by job creation and economic value. In 2015, EY and UNESCO reported that this sector generated US$2,250 billion a year, or 3% of world GDP at that time. The sector employed 29.5 million people, or 1% of the world’s active population.

The creative sector matters, both globally and to the region. Dubai Media City, the Gulf’s largest creative cluster, is home to 1,600 companies. Abu Dhabi’s TwoFour54 hosts over 600 firms. Other countries are looking to create their own local creative sectors; Saudi Arabia inaugurated its own “Media City” in Riyadh earlier this year.

There’s an awareness at the highest levels of the importance of creative industries; creativity is at the heart of numerous industries and functions, such as entertainment, marketing and branding.

That same sentiment may not always be felt by those working in the creative industry, particularly agencies and freelancers. The impression I often get is that creativity isn’t valued. Why, you may ask? Well, like everything, it comes down to price and payment.

Let’s talk value. I’ve been in the industry long enough to remember when copywriters, journalists and editors would get paid a couple of Dirhams a word. The value of the written word has perpetually fallen, and I’ve seen creatives offered less than one Dirham a word. The quality of what is produced is secondary to its cost.

And then there’s payments. Chasing bills is a way of life for many agencies and freelancers, especially when working with certain government agencies (some government agencies I know are exceptional in paying on time). It’s not unusual for payments to be made up to a year after a job has been completed. I find this behavior puzzling. Government agencies are less likely to have cash issues than their private sector counterparts. And any delay in cash flows inevitably leads to stress on staff salaries and payments to suppliers. There’s also the reputational impact; many of my colleagues in the industry simply don’t want to work with government agencies for fear of not being paid on time.

Given the stress caused to the economy by the pandemic, many creatives are struggling to stay afloat. Being paid on time and at a decent price will help them get through 2020. In contrast, payment delays and underpayment is going to drive many creatives to shut up shop and leave the region.

Good creatives matter. Just ask any marketing head about why creativity matters. Corporate and national brands need the very best minds if they’re going to stand out in the minds of their customers. We need to be encouraging the very best creatives to come to the region and work here. With that sentiment in mind, I’d ask what is creativity worth to the Gulf? I’d argue that the creative industry’s value is more than many of us are willing to pay. And that needs to change.