KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): MLABS Systems Bhd has inked a partnership with Beijing-based content creation company, Red Dragon Media Ltd, to bring international intellectual properties (IPs) to China and Malaysia for the expansion and evolution of Malaysia’s animation and augmented reality businesses.

The collaboration agreement was signed between Red Dragon and MLABS’ wholly-owned subsidiary, Multimedia Research Lab Sdn Bhd, the group announced in a press release today.

“Through the agreement, Red Dragon will build up local creative teams, create pipelines and talent with international presence via an office to be headquartered in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia,” the group said.

The initiative will be led by Walter A. McDaniel, CEO and chief creative director of Red Dragon, who was also the lead artist of Marvel’s Deathlock and Deadpool movies.

Red Dragon will also look into building up local cultural projects to drive tourism growth and international interest in local projects.

“Part of this collaboration is researching of establishing specialized vocational academy for graduates in art and graphic design the opportunity to further career with practical experience,” MLABS said.

Shares in MLABS closed down 12.5% or 4 sen at 28 sen today with 67.26 million shares traded. The group has a market capitalisation of RM52.32 million and was the fourth most actively traded counter on Bursa Malaysia today.