RIYADH, 24 April 2007 — Three-dimensional animated cartoons in Arabic on Salahuddin Al-Ayoubi, regarded as the hero of the Islamic world, will be produced in Malaysia and telecast for the Gulf market.

This was disclosed to Arab News at a press conference called on the occasion of the recently concluded GITEX exhibition by Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali, chairman, Multimedia Development Corporation (MDEC) of Malaysia. The agency is tasked with the responsibility of transforming that country into a developed economy, using ICT as an enabler.

Malaysia’s Ambassador Ismail Ibrahim, Trade Commissioner at the Malaysian Consulate General in Jeddah Naim Abdul Rahman, and Niran Noor, vice president, MDEC, were among those present. A 13-member delegation participated in GITEX Saudi Arabia 2007 with a range of products and services that find application in animation, mobile content, e-learning, e-commerce and other solutions in the IT field.

Referring to the production of the animated 3-D cartoons in Arabic, Abdul Halim said MDEC will set up a joint venture with Qatar’s Al-Jazeera Network. The cost of production is estimated at $6 million, which will be split evenly between the two organizations. The cartoon series will be telecast on Al-Jazeera’s children’s channel.

On the ongoing cooperation between the Kingdom and Malaysia in the IT sector, Noor said the e-Madinah project was making steady progress. The idea was to set up a one-stop center for accessing all types of government services within the framework of the master plan for establishing a knowledge city in Madinah. This was in addition to the setting up of smart schools in the holy city.

Ambassador Ibrahim said the Ministry of Higher Education had decided to send 500 Saudi students to Malaysia for higher studies under the King Abdullah Scholarship Scheme. They will be studying IT, engineering and medicine in various Malaysian universities under the educational cooperation program, which will also see 1,000 students being sent to that country for higher studies next year.

The ambassador said Malaysia had produced mobile phones with Islamic content, such as the call to prayer, the direction of Qibla and other programs with Islamic favor. It was the first mobile phone produced by Muslims for Muslims.

Speaking on behalf of Malaysia’s Consulate General in Jeddah, Naim Abdul Rahman said the delegation had held talks with the deputy minister of transportation and senior officials concerning the IT component of their master plan as well as the plan to convert Riyadh into a cyber city.

During the talks, the Saudi officials showed keen interest in seeking Malaysia’s cooperation in that regard.