<\/p>\n
Second, it is also imperative for Penang to have special taxes in order to ensure stable financing for its creative sector in the long run. Capital injection remains the most critical gap in fuelling the creative industries in Malaysia. Instead of relying on government grants, private capital, equity investors and bank loans, the Malaysian creative industries can become less dependent on these financial sources if there are specific tax earnings allocated to aid their development in the long-term. As such, the Penang state government should actively work with the federal ministries such as the Ministry of Finance, to get a share of potential movie ticket sales\u2019 tax (on top of goods and services tax) or even the existing digital service tax as a state government in its territory. Just as how the French National Centre of Cinematography (NCC) and Moving Image used the three taxes on movie ticket sales, television and video on demand, to raise funds for its creative industries, the same can be adapted by the Penang state government to use the tax earnings to invest in its own creative industries and thus, significantly resolved the long-standing financing capital gap for the industrial players.<\/p>\n Third, Penang needs a single state-level government agency to drive the development of its creative economy in the long-term. While the state has @CAT and Penang Art District (PAD) as incubation hubs of digital transformation and visual arts scene respectively, it still needs a unified agency to govern all creative industries in Penang. An emulative example is Taiwan Creative Content Agency (TAICCA) in which the government arm is established in 2019 to achieve three aims set by the Taiwanese government: building professional industry support system; driving innovation and upgrading of industries through cultural contents; and branding Taiwanese content for the global markets. Not only can such a government agency drive the development of Penang\u2019s cultural content and engage in international branding, it can also become the agency to train, educate and network the state\u2019s talents and entrepreneurs with the wider world. Given the needs for Penang to collect its share of capital from federal taxes in the future, the state government can even add this responsibility to an agency established for the governance of its creative industries.<\/p>\n Last but not least, Penang should contemplate in organising an international creative exposition as a state-wide vehicle to retain and attract talent from outside the state as well as within the state. As emphasised by researchers of Penang Institute, the state is still lacking in terms of talent attraction and retention in the creative industries. Because of better salaries, glamour and perquisites, it is an open fact that creative talent from the state have been venturing for these opportunities in the larger cities abroad and within Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur).<\/p>\n A longer-term measure to mitigate such brain drain in Penang\u2019s creative sector is to organise an international creative expo in different locations throughout the state, for talent retention and attraction. While existing talents can use this platform to access to job opportunities and internship chances, aspiring start-up entrepreneurs can also connect to even larger pool of venture capitalists abroad through such an expo. Should such an international expo be held annually, like the Creative Expo Taiwan, it is entirely possible to attract significant numbers of companies from overseas to participate in it and establish partnerships with the local industry leaders. And with more of these partnerships established in the long-term, Penang\u2019s creative sector is set to grow from the current size and become an influential economic contributor to the state\u2019s economy. With such sizeable creative economy, the state stands a better chance as one of the destinations to which international creative talent will come to work and live in.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n A matter of time<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n In all, the sub-national solution to the development of Penang\u2019s creative economy consists of four pillars, namely, international branding of the state, financing taxes, unified governance and international participation (via the hosting of the creative expo). All the proposed measures as explained earlier, fall under these four pillars and are rested on Penang implementing them as a sub-national actor (a Malaysian state). With active and consistent implementation of these proposed measures by the Penang government, tackling the existing challenges surrounding the state\u2019s quest as a creative state, the absence of international branding, a financing capital gap, a lack of unified governance and a brain drain of creative talents will be a matter of time.<\/p>\n Karl Lee Chee Leong is Visiting Fellow at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, National Chengchi University under the Taiwan Fellowship programme sponsored by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Taiwan. He is concurrently a PhD Candidate at the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University (Malaysia Campus).<\/em><\/p>\n Anbound Malaysia is part of Anbound China, a leading independent think tank based in Beijing. The think tank is also a consultancy firm working with corporate players in China-Asean cooperation. For any feedback, please contact: anboundkl@gmail.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Back in 2011, consultants McKinsey ran an insight in which the featured author, Parag Khanna, called for the world to appreciate the rising power of cities, with mayors soon to become one of the most important participants in world politics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3808,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"A fisherman on a hazy day alongside the Penang Bridge. 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