Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister Mohamaddin Ketapi has disagreed with a suggestion to use Japanese cartoon character Doraemon in promotional materials for the Visit Malaysia Year 2020 campaign.

He said in a statement that his ministry had not given the green light for this, and would prioritise local animated characters if it wanted to use cartoon characters for the campaign.

The suggestion was made by National Art Gallery chairperson Rashidi Hasbullah while he was launching a Doraemon pop-up store at KLIA2 on March 11.

Rashidi argued that Doraemon has a worldwide audience and would help draw tourists if used in the campaign.

Following this, Rashidi's idea was mocked by Les' Copaque Production Sdn Bhd, which produces local animation series Upin & Ipin.

The Visit Malaysia Year 2020 campaign has been a controversial one since the logo was released early last year. 

Last month, Mohamaddin promised a new logo by May. 

Meanwhile, in a separate statement today, the National Art Gallery stated that the initial confusion stemmed from an article published by a Malay daily on Mar 11.

The article was headlined: ‘Doraemon exhibition in conjunction with Visit Malaysia Year 2020’.

The National Art Gallery instead claimed that Rashidi, in his statement released during the launch of the Doraemon Pop-Up store, had actually said: “Doraemon is very popular, (and) next year is Visit Malaysia Year 2020, and coincidentally Japan is organising the 2020 Olympics.

“If Doraemon is promoted in Japan, the company behind Doraemon could promote Visit Malaysia Year 2020. If they have plans for an exhibition, we can join.”

The National Art Gallery further denied it had any plans for a Doraemon exhibition for Visit Malaysia Year 2020.