Visit from a prince: Prince Albert II of Monaco (in blue shirt), along with a number of delegates from the country, visit the Kinema animation studio in Batam on Sunday
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In a short stop during his visit to Singapore, Prince Albert II of Monaco visited Kinema Studio on the nearby Indonesian island of Batam, Riau Islands on Sunday to observe the workings of the animation studio.
Director of PT Kinema Systrans Multimedia, Michael Wiluan, said Prince Albert's pit stop was a private visit as he wanted to see and observe the studio's shooting and animation facilities being used for a number of internationally known animated films, including Tatsumi and Sing to the Dawn (released in Indonesia as Meraih Mimpi).
'During his visit to Batam, Prince Albert II was surprised that Batam was only a 30 minute-long ferry ride from Singapore. It was a private event on behalf of Singapore and Monaco's bilateral relations and reportedly was an inspiring and interesting visit for him,' Michael told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.
The monarch visited the studio along with his 20-member entourage, as well as several diplomatic figures, including the Indonesian Ambassador to Singapore Andri Hadi and steel-pipe manufacturer PT Citra Tubindo president director Kris Wiluan, who extended an invitation for the prince to visit.
During Prince Albert's visit, Michael explained to the monarch about the work performance of the studio as well as how it had helped create jobs in the creative industry in Batam, making up about 40 percent of current creative industry jobs.
'This studio is more than 4-years-old and has produced seven films. We hope that we can produce six films a year in the future,' Michael said.
Prince Albert and his delegation will stay in Batam until Monday before leaving for Monaco. (dyl/ebf)
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