KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia is dangling a new carrot in front of animation and computer game development companies in the country.

The carrot is a RM75mil fund being offered by the Multimedia Development Corporation (MDeC), caretaker of the nation’s MSC Malaysia initiative.

Datuk Badlisham Ghazali, MDeC chief executive officer, said the just-launched Mac3 fund is aimed at encouraging MSC Malaysia-status animation and game houses to engage in co-productions with foreign partners.

There are currently 20 animation and 10 game development companies in that category now.

“The fund will help accelerate the competency and capability of MSC Malaysia companies,” he said. “We will be looking to provide grants to 15 animation and game development companies over the next two years.”

By partnering with their foreign counterparts, MDeC believes that the local companies will gain expertise faster, and can be producing world-class animation and games more quickly.

MDeC is currently matchmaking three MSC Malaysia companies with three international partners, according to Badlisham. He declined to name the companies for now.

“We hope to announce the details of these deals by year-end,” he said at an event to launch the Mac3 fund today.

According to him, the foreign partners would also be providing additional funding to the local companies, depending on the type of deal.

Not just a fund

Mac3 is also the MSC Malaysia Creative Content Centre, which is a structure being built in Cyberjaya to house and offer animation facilities to local animation companies. To be opened in November, it will also act as a link for all such companies.

Modelled after the Seoul Animation Centre in South Korea, Mac3 will be equipped with high-tech infrastructure.

It will help train the nation’s talents to turn their ideas into products that can be exported to the world.

Mac3 will have a hostel so that animators can keep close to their projects.

Badlisham said more details on the facility would be revealed in November, during the MSC Malaysia International Advisory Panel meeting.

The annual meeting, which draws representatives from the world’s IT giants, was set up in 1997 to provide counsel to the Malaysian Government on how the nation could leapfrog into the Information Age.