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{
    "id": 1192704,
    "url": "https://info.mzalendo.com/api/v0.1/hansard/entries/1192704/?format=api",
    "text_counter": 52,
    "type": "speech",
    "speaker_name": "Kamukunji, JP",
    "speaker_title": "Hon. Yusuf Hassan",
    "speaker": {
        "id": 398,
        "legal_name": "Yusuf Hassan Abdi",
        "slug": "yusuf-hassan-abdi"
    },
    "content": " Thank you, Hon. Deputy Speaker, for the opportunity. I would like to support the Motion brought by the brilliant young Member for Dagoretti South, who is an artist himself. This is a timely and important Motion given the fact that, as a country, we have an advantage of benefitting from our youth. We have one of the youngest populations in the world. By investing in that young population, we could turn what can be a crisis into a boom. In other words, we can make young people productive contributors to the economy. Innovators, creators and talented people are out there. Technology, culture and arts can be an entry point for us, as a country, to lift our economy and create an opportunity for this country to become developed. I was just looking at how much countries like the United States of America (USA) benefit from the production of art, and cultural goods and services. In the USA, arts and culture add 4.3 per cent directly to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is a total of US$1 trillion a year. This amount is much bigger than anything that is offered by the American industry like construction and mining industries. The arts and culture sector contribute more to the GDP of the USA than anything else. For us, given the fact that we have an abundant number of innovators, creators and talented people, we can leapfrog into the Fourth Industrial Revolution by investing in our youth and putting money to promote that. I speak as a Member who has the largest art and culture centre in Nairobi, the Nairobi Craft Centre in Shaurimoyo Majengo. This is a big production centre that is not productive in the sense that it does not get the investment that it requires. I support the Motion that we support our innovators and artisans. We should benefit from that in the digital age. Two per cent is not enough, but it is a good beginning. This is a good Motion that we should support. This is an area where the Government should invest in so that we can turn our young people into a productive force to contribute to the economy, rather than becoming The electronic version of the Official Hansard Report is for information purposesonly. A certified version of this Report can be obtained from the Hansard Editor."
}