KANGAR, Oct 9 — The Communications and Multimedia Ministry (KKMM) plans to establish a creative arts associations at both national and state levels to facilitate the coordination of efforts to further develop the industry.

Deputy minister Datuk Zahidi Zainul Abidin said, with the existence of such associations involving the ministry, the process to provide specific funds would be easier as they could be channelled directly to the target groups.

"We will gather creative arts players and set up the association and will also work with the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Tourism, Arts and Culture Malaysia Ministry, as it will also involve culture and youth,” he told reporters after the closing ceremony of the Komuniti@Finas (KoFI) programme, here tonight.

Also present were National Film Development Corporation (Finas) chairman Zakaria Abdul Hamid and  deputy director-general (Production and Technical), Syirfan Indra Mitra Surya Hussin.

Zahidi said the establishment of the association would also give room for traditional creative arts players to pass on their artistic knowledge to the younger generation.

"For example, the Awang Batil performance in Perlis, could be made more interesting by infusing more modern storytelling effect without changing the original value of the art,” he said.

He said the same goes with boria and Makyong that had attracted the participation of the younger generation, adding that continuous efforts must be undertaken to preserve the traditional performances that were part of the nation’s heritage.

"We hope that venturing into the field of creative arts will also help increase the people’s income and contribute to the country’s revenue...this proposal will be implemented immediately for the development of the country’s creative industry,” he said.

On KoFI, he said the three-day programme which ended today, involved several components including the Creative Human Capital Development Workshop, Prisma Micro Fund Pitching Session and CSR Visit: Finas Malaysian Family.

He said through the Prisma Micro Fund Pitching Session, an allocation of RM400,000 under the Malaysian Creative Industry Stimulus Package (Prisma) was provided to produce 40 creative content projects.

"The KoFI programme also highlights the unique attractions in Perlis such as Padang Besar through a special documentary that can entice domestic and international productions to use them as a location for content production works,” he said. — Bernama