- 6 weeks ago
- #considerthis
Malaysia has long spoken about the creative economy as a driver of growth, jobs and entrepreneurship. But beyond the buzzwords, how much economic value is the sector really creating? Why are there so few Malaysian creative businesses that have become globally competitive companies, when Malaysia has no shortage of creative talent. On this episode of #ConsiderThis Melisa Idris speaks with Zainol Haqim Zainol Rashid, Group CEO of MyCreative Ventures, which is a government-backed investment arm supporting Malaysia's creative industries.
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00:00Music
00:10Hello and good evening. I'm Melissa Idris. Welcome to Consider This.
00:14This is the show where we want you to consider and then reconsider what you know of the news of
00:18the day.
00:19So Malaysia has long spoken about the creative economy as a driver of growth, of jobs, of entrepreneurship.
00:25But beyond those buzzwords, what's economic value? How much economic value does the creative economy actually bring to the country?
00:34And why are there so few Malaysian creative businesses that have become globally competitive companies when Malaysia really has no
00:43shortage of creative talent?
00:45So to help us answer some of those questions, I have with me on the show Zainal Hakim Zainal Rashid,
00:51who is the new group CEO of My Creative Ventures.
00:55Welcome to the show, Hakim. Thanks so much for joining me.
00:58So maybe we can begin by setting the scene as to what My Creative Ventures does.
01:05So it's a government agency essentially that looks at supporting the Malaysian creative economy.
01:12Now when we think about that, how much of economic value does the creative economy bring to the country?
01:20Why should our audience tonight see the creative industry as an economic policy issue?
01:27Thank you, Melissa.
01:30The creative economy is no longer just a cultural conversation.
01:34It's an economic one because it creates jobs, it generates business activities and contributes directly to the GDP.
01:43In 2024, we had our Department of Statistics issued out the satellite account specific to the creative industry
01:52where 6.8% of the Malaysia GDP is derived from the creative economy.
02:006.8% of the GDP?
02:016.8% and it's projected that by 2030, this creative economy will contribute roughly about 32 billion ringgit to
02:13the national GDP.
02:14So this is why the sector matters to policy.
02:21That's a lot. That's 32 billion in 2030.
02:25Okay, so I took a look at the website of My Creative Ventures, looking at what kind of industries fall
02:34under your purview.
02:35So when we talk about the creative economy, which industries are we looking at?
02:40So if you've got everything from content creation to culinary arts and design and fashion, literature, cultural arts, visual arts,
02:48talk to me about which creative industries are thriving in Malaysia and which are struggling.
02:56I think struggling is a very general word.
03:04By definition, there's only 21 sectors in the creative economy.
03:1021 sectors?
03:11There's 21 sectors based on the UN tech definitions.
03:16And My Creative looks at 10 pillars out of the 21.
03:21And I would say that it's a cycle.
03:27There are times this particular sector is doing well and vice versa.
03:33But struggling in general sense, we see that some struggling in the sense of trying to make their business as
03:44a sustainable business.
03:46So that is where the struggling part comes in.
03:50Alright, so can you give me an example of some of the industry?
03:55So when you say the ones that are doing particularly well, is it the performing arts?
04:00Is it the fashion?
04:01Is it which ones are doing very well?
04:04For example, now, Malaysian film.
04:07Malaysian film is doing quite well.
04:09I mean, numbers have shown that audience for Malaysian movies, Malaysian film, surpasses of those from Hollywood, for example, for
04:242025.
04:26Surpasses Bollywood?
04:27Hollywood.
04:29In what way?
04:30Number of audience going to cinema for to watch Malaysian film.
04:35Like box office numbers?
04:36So that's the first time Malaysian film surpasses of those from Hollywood.
04:44So that is a good sign.
04:47I mean by fashion, we can see now there's a lot of local brands coming up.
04:56So yes, they are still micro and small.
04:58But the question now is how do we help them to scale?
05:01So those are thriving sites.
05:04Challenges site, I mean by production of performance arts.
05:16Their production work is still happening.
05:18We are producing.
05:19But the struggle is how do you capture new audience?
05:23How do you commercialize this particular activity into something that is more sustainable?
05:30So they are struggling on that side.
05:32Okay.
05:33So those are some of the...
05:34Yeah.
05:35Actually that's really good.
05:36Let's delve into some of the challenges, right?
05:39You mentioned the, I guess, the barrier or the inability to scale.
05:45And then maybe, you know, becoming commercially viable, commercially sustainable.
05:51Can you talk to me a little bit about that?
05:52What are the biggest structural barriers that My Creative has identified?
05:57When you support local creative industries, what's stopping them from becoming generally successful?
06:06Or the word that we use just now thriving.
06:10So, in general, the creative sector needs capital that is matched to its realities.
06:17Not every project should be treated like a conventional SME or one-off productions.
06:23What we see is that we need a blended finance.
06:26We need patient capital and co-investment models that help de-risk the sector for private investors.
06:35That's one.
06:35On a structural barrier that we have identified is that too much support still stops at production funding.
06:42And without enough follow-through on distribution, IP, monetization, audience development and export readiness.
06:50So it's actually an ecosystem by itself.
06:52And we need a stronger commercial infrastructure like market access platform, data, legal support and a clear pathway to regional
07:02partnership.
07:03And also to ensure that our creative business are not trying to scale alone.
07:09We have to be there to provide them this support for scalability.
07:13Okay.
07:14That sounds like a great diagnosis of the problem, right?
07:18You seem to understand where the barriers are for some of these creative entrepreneurs to grow.
07:24Where does my creative come in?
07:28I know you provide grants.
07:30You provide that kind of investment and support.
07:34Talk to me a little bit about the role of my creative in trying to get some of the smaller
07:39creative industries on their feet and then to grow.
07:43So our main mandate is actually to become the financial catalyst, financial arm for the creative sector.
07:51That is our main mandate.
07:52Meaning that what we need to do is want to provide assistance in the form of loans.
08:00Is it loans or grants?
08:02Loans and also investment.
08:06At the same time, we do have to perform some industry development mandate.
08:14And specifically for now, it's more inclined towards content and music.
08:19And we do have grants for those.
08:22So the grants would be for the industry development mandate.
08:26Talk to me about the loans, the investments, because that would require a return on investment as well as repayment
08:38of the loans.
08:39So how does the government know that they are creating?
08:47What is the return on investment when you invest into a creative business?
08:51I mean from our perspective, of course as a business, it's still the monetary ROIs.
08:57But from an industry development perspective, the measurement of creating a sustainable business can no longer be measured by the
09:06financial numbers alone.
09:08So it cannot be measured based on the amount of funding dispersed or the number of recipient receiving your assistance.
09:16But it has to be measured by the long-term impact created.
09:21For example, if we were to assist a particular creative business, how many job opportunities is created from this?
09:30So there's more measures?
09:31There's more measures in the sense of whether the potential investments are successfully attracting new investors coming in or private
09:41investors.
09:42Whether new IPs is being developed and whether the business remains sustainable after receiving support.
09:48So those are the measurements that holistically that we should be looking at.
09:54And when you see a company that we have assisted grow and manage to be able to be sustainable and
10:01employing new, creating new job opportunities for people, right?
10:06So those are the measures of success.
10:08Give me your success story.
10:09I'm curious to know.
10:10For example, I think it's a household name now in Malaysia at least.
10:15Christy Young, when they started, they were our beneficiary for loans.
10:22And with that loan, they are where they are today.
10:25On top of their own business acumen and efforts, we do give them the assistance to start.
10:35You mentioned a bit earlier when you were talking about funding, about blended capital and the need for patient capital.
10:43How much time do you give a creative entrepreneur to stop depending on some of the financial support from government
10:50and become commercially self-sustaining?
10:53I mean, in reality, it's very hard at the beginning when creative businesses, at the point of starting out, right?
11:06Yeah.
11:06Because the industry is very high risk.
11:10And major FIs tend to shy away from this sector.
11:14Hence why we were created.
11:16And that was our mandate to come in and support at the entry point.
11:22At the same time, we wanted to move away from dependency on grants.
11:29So, mindset has to change.
11:32So, that is one part why we are now focusing on more of a commercial aspect so that the mindset
11:40of depending too much on government assistance is reduced.
11:45But that balance is so tricky because it is very difficult for small creative entrepreneurs to grow their business.
11:54It takes some time to have that proven track record to scale their businesses, particularly in the kind of smaller
12:01Malaysian domestic market, right?
12:02But you have your KPIs to meet, you have your ROIs to report.
12:07How do you balance that time frame?
12:12I mean, as a business, we have been around for about 14 years.
12:17We do learn from past mistakes or past challenges in terms of how to improve.
12:23It takes time as we are dealing with people.
12:27It's about advocacy works, you know, in terms of how we...
12:30When I personally had the opportunity to meet the industry players, we tend to advocate this.
12:38It is two-way.
12:42As much as we want to educate, the industry also has to be open to receiving it, right?
12:50And start to see that things are changing globally, even globally.
12:57For the creative sector, most government is moving away from 100% grants.
13:06So it's more of a blended model where as a business, you also have to put in some capital
13:11and the government will still support and eventually, maybe later, that dependency is reduced.
13:21What happens when they are not able to scale?
13:24When the business does not take off as intended?
13:28What happens in the commercial failure of a creative enterprise?
13:35Well, we always see that there are always new businesses, new ideas coming through.
13:42But for the existing one, some will either pivot or they move on to other things.
13:47That is the reality of things.
13:50I guess I'm just wondering, because my creative, you have to pick the winners.
13:55You have to decide which businesses and sectors receive support.
13:59How do you do that?
14:00How do you make those decisions without, first of all, you know, because you have to meet your KPI,
14:07but without distorting the market, without your biases getting into play
14:12and without overlooking the next big success in case you miss it?
14:17All right.
14:19What we have learned over the years, right?
14:21For example, we do have a Rio, for example.
14:25Yes.
14:26Rio is a platform.
14:28Yeah, explain Rio to us.
14:29Rio is a platform that the original reasoning behind why we created Rio was at that point in time,
14:40we realized that the kreatives need visibility.
14:44So it was a platform designed to promote, to aggregate and promote the kreatives.
14:50So, Rio gave us direct visibility, one.
14:55And it's not only how Malaysian kreative economy is behaving on the ground,
15:01but also Malaysian's appetite when it comes to local products.
15:06And then through the sales number, the footfall, visitors' performance, kategori demand, job creation and audience response,
15:13we are able to see kreative businesses, which ones that have fractions, which sectors are ready to scale
15:21and where entrepreneurs still need support.
15:25For example, just to share, Malaysians are willing to spend on local kreative products.
15:30That's the data that we got.
15:33But when those products are presented in the right environment and it's curated and it's accessible
15:40and experience-driven.
15:43So, this also shows that local kreative producers are no longer seen as only a niche culture item,
15:51but as part of mainstream lifestyle spending.
15:56These insights directly inform us.
16:01All right.
16:01Let's break down Rio because Rio is a great event.
16:06Essentially, it's an event.
16:07So, you bring together all these little pop-ups into a space
16:10and you highlight Malaysia's creative products.
16:15So, using Rio as almost like a lab to see what Malaysians are spending on,
16:21what Malaysians like, what Malaysians resonate with,
16:24how has, in the time that you've used Rio as this kind of survey,
16:32what's changed?
16:33So, what did we like before?
16:34What were you investing in before?
16:36And what do you now see as winners that you're picking?
16:41Oh, that's a tough one, actually.
16:45What's changed?
16:49I would say in terms of fashion,
16:53it's a fast cycle.
16:55So, and then the changing demographics,
16:59that one has an impact in terms of spending.
17:04We can see that the Gen Zs, the younger generations,
17:08they are more inclined towards spending on local brands.
17:15So, when, for example, the recent Rio Raya that we had,
17:202020, 2026.
17:22I went for that.
17:23You went for that, right?
17:24Yeah, I did, yes.
17:24So, in our social media, we kind of like,
17:28ask them to dress up for Raya, right?
17:31We had that session.
17:32So, we can see that most are wearing local brands.
17:38So, it's a traction.
17:41It's showing something.
17:43Okay, there's demand for these segments.
17:45And then, as a platform,
17:49on the surface, people will say,
17:51oh, it's a festival.
17:54It's a showcase.
17:56But, in reality, Rio is actually a developmental platform.
18:00We incubate.
18:01We incubate brands.
18:03For example, we have brands that have been following us
18:06for the past two years, for example.
18:07And we track their growth in terms of sales.
18:10And based on the sales numbers,
18:12we learn also in terms of back then.
18:14For example, this year,
18:15outperform last year.
18:17Why?
18:18Or, in a reverse scenario,
18:21last year, outperform this year.
18:23Why?
18:24So, those are, for us,
18:27at least, an indicator of trying to understand
18:32which companies should we place our bets on.
18:35Or, what are the success factors or failures
18:38behind certain things?
18:39So, we have a better understanding
18:42in terms of choosing.
18:43So, it's not just a random decision.
18:46There's data being used to decide
18:49where to place your bets,
18:51if I may use your words.
18:52Can I come back to young people?
18:54You said Gen Zs are really supporting local brands.
18:56That's so encouraging to hear.
18:58And you are right.
18:59During Rio Raya, it was all local brands, wasn't it?
19:01People buying local baju raya
19:03to support local designers.
19:05Many people say,
19:06or many Malaysians, I think,
19:08want to, in all the best intentions,
19:11want to support local brands.
19:12But there are still areas
19:14where imported creative products dominate.
19:18Can I ask you what the main issues are?
19:21Is it about price?
19:23Is it about consumer confidence?
19:26Is it branding?
19:27Is it quality?
19:28What do you think are some of the reasons
19:29why Malaysians are not defaulting
19:33picking Malaysian products?
19:36I think one is brand, brand presence.
19:40Secondly, is price point.
19:44Price point is due to scale.
19:48And that is a challenge the way I see it, at least.
19:52Is it because the Malaysian economy,
19:54the Malaysian domestic demand is limited?
19:57Are you pushing local brands
20:02to ultimately get into the international market
20:06to be able to grow and scale
20:08and then offer that price point
20:09that's attractive to everyone?
20:10Yes.
20:11So, in terms of quality,
20:14quality is about the same.
20:16We do have quality products.
20:19But perhaps it's a challenge
20:20because for local brands,
20:22they are not known.
20:24So, this is the reason why Rio,
20:27platforms like this are created
20:29so that it kind of like educate the market.
20:32Give them the visibility that they need
20:34to grow their brands, you see,
20:35and grow their followers.
20:36So, once they have enough traction,
20:38we can push them at least to regional markets
20:42and scale them up.
20:44So, at the beginning of our conversation,
20:46you talked about how funding was really a concern.
20:49But that's not the only challenge
20:50for the creative industries.
20:55So, maybe talk to me a little bit about
20:59what's the path forward?
21:00What support is needed
21:01for us to be able to become
21:04this kind of thriving ecosystem
21:07for our creative sector?
21:09The path forward is definitely
21:11to shift Malaysia's creative economy
21:14from being funding creativity
21:16to building commercially resilient
21:20creative businesses.
21:22So, just from funding to now building?
21:25Building.
21:26Okay.
21:26So, we need, we have to,
21:29we have no shortages of talents,
21:31ideas, creativity,
21:33of cultural originality.
21:35We have all of that.
21:36But the next step is
21:38turning that into sustainable enterprises
21:41that can grow,
21:43that can export and compete regionally.
21:46So, that's the pathway.
21:48This means stronger market access.
21:51This means deeper IP development.
21:53This means better business skills
21:55and more collaboration with investors,
21:59financial institutions,
22:00and strategic partners.
22:02In addition to this,
22:03we also need to make sure
22:05that financial support
22:06is tied to sustainability,
22:09scalability,
22:10and also long-term value creation
22:13rather than just output.
22:14So, this is where my CV steps in,
22:17my creative steps in.
22:18As the catalyst for creative business growth,
22:21we want to be more than just a program provider
22:25or a financier.
22:26We want to help industry players
22:28move from producing works
22:30to be sustainable
22:31and commercially valuable enterprises
22:35by creating more growth opportunities
22:39through expanded collaboration networks
22:41with industry players,
22:43with financial institutions,
22:45investors,
22:45and international strategic partners.
22:46That sounds wonderful.
22:47I'm glad that you,
22:49that is the vision.
22:50But now I want to ask you
22:52to drill down
22:54or maybe get personal with me.
22:56You've been promoted to this job.
22:59You've taken on this role
22:59less than a month in now.
23:01Okay, congratulations, by the way.
23:04What is it that you want to prioritize?
23:06You, Encik Hakim,
23:08who is now heading
23:10or taking the helm
23:12of my creative ventures
23:13after being in the company for a while.
23:16What do you want to champion
23:18and what do you want your tenure
23:19to be marked by?
23:23For me personally,
23:25I mean by the shift of focus
23:28in terms of direction.
23:29So, at least for me
23:31at this point in time
23:32is how I strengthen
23:34the internal team
23:35so that we can be able
23:37and ready to support that vision.
23:39So, that is the immediate challenge
23:41that I face.
23:42So, there are values
23:44that we wanted to cultivate internally
23:47and also values
23:48that we want to cultivate externally.
23:50For example,
23:52our values are motivated,
23:55yield focus,
23:56collaborative,
23:57and also value creation.
23:59value creation.
24:00So, these are the values
24:01which is actually my CV.
24:03Oh, it stands for it.
24:04It stands for my CV.
24:05So, these are the values
24:06that we wanted to promote internally
24:09and also externally.
24:10Why do you think it's important
24:11that you build the internal team,
24:14that capacity internally first?
24:16Are you seeing a gap there?
24:18Is that where you think
24:19that you can provide the most support?
24:21There are gaps.
24:22I mean, but in terms of
24:23the shift of direction,
24:26definitely.
24:26This is the mindset shift
24:28you were talking about earlier.
24:29So, we have to be prepared
24:31to embark on this new direction.
24:34So, their focus is definitely
24:35building internal capability
24:38and internal strength.
24:40The house must be in order
24:41before we go out.
24:42So, those are the strategies
24:43that I'm looking forward to.
24:46Do you think that this mindset shift
24:47will be well received
24:49by the creative industry?
24:52It's going to be a big one.
24:53I don't envy your job.
24:54Having to shift away
24:55from the kind of grant-receiving mindset
24:58to the let's become
25:00commercially sustainable mindset.
25:05I do foresee,
25:07but I am very positive
25:10that we can do this.
25:12It will take time.
25:14It will take a lot of effort,
25:15a lot of advocacy,
25:17a lot of trying to make people understand.
25:20But, it's all part of the job.
25:24I'm positive you will be able to succeed.
25:26Thank you so much for being on the show.
25:27I appreciate your time.
25:29That's all the time we have for you
25:30on this episode of Consider This.
25:32I'm Melissa Idris,
25:33signing off for the evening.
25:34Thank you so much for watching
25:35and good night.
25:49Thank you so much for watching.
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