KL Converge was hosted by the Ministry of Communications & Multimedia Malaysia, which was held last September 17 to 19, 2014 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The Philippine government agency heading the Philippine delegate was the Department of Science and Technology (DOST). Industry association representatives were invited to attend the event were: IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP), Animation Council of the Philippines (ACPI), Game Development Association of the Philippines (GDAP), Healthcare Information Management Outsourcing Association of the Philippines (HIMOAP) and the Philippine Software Industry Association (PSIA).
The event area is big and organized, well lighted, modern and the staff were courteous. Free round trip airfare and hotel accommodation was provided by the Malaysian organizers. All the delegates stayed at the Impiana Hotel.
KL Converge is a showcase of how multiple facets of technology, services and applications have converged into a digital world which is now a key driver in the lives of consumers, economic development and of the nation’s growth. In Malaysia, convergence has led to the development of their communications and multimedia industry, including a vibrant content industry.
With the ASEAN becoming an economic community in 2015, Malaysia is mindful of their commitment to the ASEAN TELMIN to host the ASEAN Digital Content Exchange, as laid out in the ASEAN ICT Masterplan 2015. As we recall, the ASEAN digital content exchange should be the key platform to promote and facilitate exchange of the content for the ASEAN and other regional players.
About three weeks before the event, the DOST through ACPI invited some members (about 6 attended) to join the event. Grace Dimaranan was available but she opted to send her husband – Luis to attend the event in the last minute, since she had other commitments to finish. The Philippines was given a Pavillion area to represent the country by the organizers. The Pavillion had small module booths, tables and chairs were provided for companies to place their brochures, cards and streamers and enable them to conduct business discussions. Top Peg Animation was given a TV monitor to show our demo reels and samples.
Since I stayed most of the time at the Philippine Pavillion area to entertain guests and inquiries, I haven’t had much time to go to the conference area. The inquiries are generic and not much related to animation. Since its theme was “convergence”, all industries pertaining to the digital age were included. I had a chance to drop by a conference seminar near our exhibit area but its a Masterclass in photography on the last day and I didn’t stay long but they still gave some free T-shirts to the attendees. There were a lot of visitors in the first day and slowly trickled on the third day. I got inquiries from game publishers, real estate developers, studio owners, IT people, content creators, government people, and a media company.
The Malaysian government really supports their industry by conducting these kinds of events. They create a good business climate by inviting different countries for free and hence establish a good reputation amongst its neighbors. It might cost them a lot of money now but they will reap rewards in the future. Other ASEAN countries are also beefing up their business environment by giving a lot of support to their business sectors. The local support we get from the Philippine government pales in comparison to our ASEAN counterparts, I hope the Philippines can also catch up with a similar kind of support in the future.
Miracle Animation Studios Inc. 
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