PUTRAJAYA, July 26 — Creative industries in Malaysia like filmmaking, drama production and animation have export potential if the end products are works of quality, said Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
For this, he said the industry players must understand what overseas markets want in order to ensure their products gain acceptance and not just rely on the local market alone.
“Korean and Hindustani films are popular. If want to make films that can be shown overseas, we must know their tastes.
“The government can help a bit like in promotions but in the end, it will be the quality of the films that will determine if they can be accepted in foreign countries,” he said at a dialogue with local entertainment industry players at the Perdana Leadership Foundation here today.
Among those who attended the dialogue were Datuk Jamal Abdillah, Rozita Che Wan, Datuk Shuhaimi Baba, Michael Ang, Fauziah Ahmad Daud, Datuk Yusof Haslam, Datuk Norman Abdul Halim and representatives from the Malaysian Film Producers Association.
At the session, producer Datuk Nancy Foo had asked the government to open up opportunities for local producers to join overseas trade missions to market their products in view of the entertainment industry only contributing one per cent of Gross Domestic Product currently.
Dr Mahathir said the government had no problems on this but the producers had to foot the bill themselves.
On requests for banks to loosen conditions for Syariah-compliant loans to film and drama producers and provide double tax deduction to investors in the creative industries, Dr Mahathir said these matters would be brought to the Cabinet for a decision.
Among the other suggestions forwarded were for enforcement on copyright infringement to be handled by a single ministry as currently enforcement was done by the Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Ministry whereas punitive action came under the jurisdiction of the Communication and Multimedia Ministry.
On the issues raised, Dr Mahathir asked them to submit a memorandum so that it could be deliberated by the Cabinet.
“I will try to help as far as I can and if the issues are substantial like tax, the memorandum will help me understand them better to convince the Cabinet to support the demands,” he said. — Bernama
