Malaysia to elevate film industry through cooperation with Asean countries

BANGKOK - Malaysia wants to enhance cooperation with foreign film industry players, especially in Asean countries, in an effort to elevate the local film industry to a higher level.

Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa, who is currently on a working visit to Bangkok, said he wanted to explore cooperation opportunities between film producers and distributors in the region.

More collaborations should be forged between industry players in Malaysia and Asean countries, as well as in China, India and Korea, he added.

"We can’t wait for them to come to us. We need to act proactively to take our film industry to the next level,” he told Bernama here today.

Earlier, Annuar visited Gross Domestic Happiness (GDH) Studio, one of the largest film studios in Thailand.

GDH is a producer of films of various genres and dramas, including Bad Genius, a 2017 flick that recorded huge success internationally.

During the visit, Annuar also discussed with GDH chief executive officer Jina Osothsilp Malaysia’s intention for the film industries in both countries to forge cooperation.

Also present was National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas) chief executive officer Prof Dr Md Nasir Ibrahim.

The visit to GDH also gave Annuar the opportunity to see for himself the efforts and policies implemented in Thailand to promote and boost their film industry.

Commenting further, he said Malaysia and Thailand had previously signed a bilateral agreement in areas such as telecommunications and the creative industry.

However, following the Covid-19 pandemic, the agreement failed to materialise and as such, Annuar said he wanted the initiatives to be resumed. - BERNAMA