KUALA LUMPUR: The Ministry of Tourism, Arts and Culture (Motac) is planning to exhibit Egyptian pharaoh’s tomb and artefacts of Ramses II and Tutankhamun, or popularly known as King Tut, in October next year in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2020.
Deputy Minister Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik said the government was still working to finalise the exhibition with Egyptian government and would organise a fundraising event to make it happen.
“Every exhibition tour involving Ramses II and King Tut have always received a high number of visitors so in line with Visit Malaysia Year 2020, we are not just attracting the local visitors but also tourists from Asean member countries. It’s one way to make our national museum to be a cultural development centre for all,” he told Bernama after attending the 7th Asian National Museums Association (Anma) Executive Meeting and Conference here today.
The deputy minister also said corporate bodies should play a bigger role with museum as it can be a significant impact towards expanding the cultural heritage platform for the society, especially after the government, in its Budget 2020, agreed to increase tax deductions for companies sponsoring arts, cultural and heritage activities in Malaysia from RM700,000 to RM1 million per year.
In Budget 2020, a total of RM1.1billion was allocated for Visit Malaysia Year 2020 campaign, with Motac targeting 30 million tourists and RM100 billion of tourism revenue.
Meanwhile, Anma Executive Meeting is held every two years with 16 member countries taking turns to host it. Kuala Lumpur is hosting it for the first time this year.
The three-day meeting from Oct 29-31 is themed “Social Unity Through Culture, Art and History: The Museum Challenges”.
Twelve member countries are participating with three observer countries were invited namely Oman, Azerbaijan and East Timor.
National Museum of Malaysia receives 800,000 to 1 million visitors every year and there are 20 federal museums as well as 263 other museums comprising state museums, private museums and institution museums. — Bernama
