CITY BOOST TO GDP
Five-year plan targets RM19.4 billion
THE “Kuala Lumpur as a Cultural and Creative City” five-year action plan aims to increase the capital’s contribution to the gross domestic product from RM11.2 billion to RM19.4 billion, and create 125,000 jobs for its people.
Communications and Multimedia Minister Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak said the plan was an outcome of a report by the Cultural Economy Development Agency (Cendana) and interest groups.
“The creative economy is one of the most rapidly growing sectors of the world economy.
“It is transformative in terms of income generation, job creation and export earnings.
“It generates non-monetary value that reflects a nation’s capacity to express itself artistically and creatively on its culture and heritage, whether via films, music, literature or the arts, which can be shared with the world.
“There is a direct link between the cultural sector and creative industries. The cultural sector is the heartbeat and core of these industries. It is the fuel to the creative sector that will nurture Malaysia’s soul,” he said at the launch of the report here yesterday.
Cendana founder and chief executive officer Izan Satrina Sallehuddin said the five-year agenda positioned Malaysia as a vibrant and inspiring centre for arts.
She said the report identified five building blocks for the plan to spur the capital’s cultural and creative economy sectors.
“They are cultural and creative education, creative hubs for infrastructure, nurturing the market, business support and investments, as well as creative tourism. The success of the report is the collaboration between the private and public sectors’ investments and management.”
For more information, log on to www.cendana.com.my.