DEVELOP CREATIVITY INTO AN INDUSTRY: SHABERY

KUALA LUMPUR, March 12 Bernama) -- The creative industry should be
restructured and expanded to make it a sector that can contribute to the
country's economic growth, Information Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said
Thursday.

He said the industry had great potential to be developed because besides
having people with natural creative talent Malaysia had also produced many
graduates in this from its local institutions.

"It is difficult to define this industry because it is different from the
manufacturing and construction industry where we can see the physical results.

"The end product of human creativity can only be linked to the contribution
it makes to the country's economic growth and the creation of job opportunities
and income for those involved in the field. But if carefully structured and
expanded, it can become a big industry.

"This is what is lacking in our country. Our society is creative but this
field has yet to become an industry," he said in a interveiw on private TV3's
"Malaysia Hari Ini" (Malaysia Today) programme on the Creative Industry
Conference which the ministry is organising on March 15 and 16.

The conference is aimed, among others, at providing a channel for the
sharing of information and ideas among those involved in the creative industry,
technology providers and policy makers, both local and foreign, on the future of
the industry in Malaysia.

Themed "Creative Industry: A New Dimension for Economic Development", the
inaugural conference is expected to be attended by about 500 participants,
including tertiary students and suppliers of films and dramas.

Ahmad Shabery said the creative industry could follow the footsteps of the
agricultural sector which, after its restructure, expansion and change of
mindset, became a business entity and industry that made a big contribution to
the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He said the creative industry in Malaysia was still lagging behind that in
other countries which contributed up to nine per cent of their countries' GDP.

"We don't know how much the creative industry in our country contributes to
the GDP. Some say it's not even one per cent, so it's difficult for us to gauge.
The potential's there but it's not being developed," he said.

Shabery hoped that the people and policy makers would see the importance of
the creative industry not only from the aspect of job opportunities by also the
products.

He also said that the banks could help in the development of the industry by
providing financial aid to the industry players to develop their talent and
creativity to reach the global level.

The RM20 million injection by the government through its second stimulus
package was a fund that could be used to enhance the creative industry, he said.

Besides that, national Radio Televisyen Malaysia's (RTM) new 24-hour
entertainment channel, Muzik Aktif, to be aired over 180 Astro from next
Thursday could serve as a platform for creative practitioners to display their
talents, including through video clips in its various programmes, he added.

Shabery said it was hoped that the conference would mould a new mindset in
the society to better understand the Creative Economy (C-Economy).

"We hope the word C-Economy will become a household word in the society. We
will monitor the progress of the C-Economy in the country and this is a platform
that we have built," he added. (US$1=RM3.67)
-- BERNAMA