Various initiatives put in place to spur creative industry in 2022

MDEC chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz says the employment market for the digital content industry is very competitive with many job vacancies available due to the tight talent pool, owing to the high-density world-class studios set up in Malaysia and the remote working opportunities.

THIS year saw various initiatives being put in place to create more jobs and opportunities and curate talent in Malaysia’s creative industry.

There has been a nationwide approach to provide greater benefits to arts industry practitioners as well as encourage the local community to participate in the digital economy.

The programmes were in line with the government’s efforts to raise the creative industry’s contribution to the country’s gross domestic product to 20%, estimated at RM31bil, by 2025.

Among others, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corp (MDEC) Creativity @ Schools programme has evolved since 2016, targeting school children’s exposure to game development, animation and creative skill sets. As of 2022, the programme has reached 3,400 registered participants.

The programme also reached a tipping point when it was officially adopted by the Education Ministry as part of the official co-curriculum syllabus for all four million Malaysian school children aged from seven to 17.

On a wider scope, the government also supports the rapid pace of upskilling and reskilling through multiple programmes, such as the Enterprise Development Programme or EDP, which offers free or at-cost courses that have seen over 1,500 participants enrolled over the last three years.

Another developmental programme is the Creators Studio, which provides Malaysian-based studios with the opportunity to hire Malaysians and provide real-world, on-the-job training.

To further support the industry players’ development, a digital content grant was provided for them to develop new intellectual properties (IPs) and existing market IPs.

Among other initiatives are the Virtual Buyer Fly-in (focused on buyers or investors), My Game Connect (focused on publishers or investors), Kre8tif Conferenve (animation platform), and LEVEL UP KL Conference (focused on interactive media).

MDEC chief executive officer Mahadhir Aziz says the employment market for the digital content industry is very competitive with many job vacancies available due to the tight talent pool, owing to the high-density world-class studios set up in Malaysia and the remote working opportunities.

“Technical skills are in high demand such as creativity, storyboarding, game concept design, and quality assurance testing skills, programmers, animators, VFX compositors, effects artists, modellers, 3D artists, 2D artists, and technical directors, among others,” he told Bernama.

He added that the demand for talent is expected to rise at a compound annual growth rate of 7.59% per year over the next three years. MDEC aims to boost talent development, business access, and community building in these areas so that more individuals will embrace and use new technologies in the creative industry.