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S. Korea ready to invest in local film industry
This image show a World War II Japanese slave labor camp in Indonesia as depicted in Hanung Bramantyoâs Soekarno
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span class="inline inline-center">This image show a World War II Japanese slave labor camp in Indonesia as depicted in Hanung Bramantyo's Soekarno. The removal of the film industry from the negative investment list (DNI) has paved the way for countries like South Korea to invest in Indonesia, Creative Economy Agency head Triawan Munaf said on Friday. (Photo courtesy of MVP Pictures)
The removal of the local film industry from the negative investment list (DNI) has paved the way for countries like South Korea to invest in Indonesia, an agency head has said.
Creative Economy Agency head Triawan Munaf said that South Korea had long shown an interest in the local film industry but had been hesitant to invest due to the industry's DNI inclusion.
"They aren't yet able to invest. Foreign investment has yet to enter the film industry, not even 1 percent," said Triawan on Friday as quoted on tempo.co.
Although the value of incoming investment could not yet be estimated, Triawan said that the cinema business sector had the potential to develop significantly.
The current growth of the local film industry is said to be relatively slow compared to other countries such as China. For example, the total number of cinema screens in Indonesia, 1,117, is similar to the total number of screens in Beijing.
Following the release of the 10th economic policy package on Thursday, 35 industrial sectors have been removed from the DNI, while 20 others have been added.
Coordinating Economic Minister Darmin Nasution said the policy was aimed at boosting both domestic and foreign direct investment (FDI), while providing protection to small and medium enterprises (SMEs). This also means that 100 percent foreign ownership is allowed in the 35 sectors that have fully opened up to FDI.
The 35 sectors include tourism, cold storage, sports centers, film processing labs, the crumb rubber industry, warehousing, e-commerce with a marketplace value above Rp 100 billion, toll road operators, telcom device certification, non-hazardous waste management and raw medicine materials.
Previously, Cabinet Secretary Pramono Anung said the policy aims to eliminate business cartels, one of them allegedly being the cinema industry.
The removal of the film industry from the DNI has created debate. The Indonesian Cinema Business Owners Association (GPBSI) considers the government to have been too hasty in implementing the policy and Indonesian Film Industry Association (APFI) head Ody Mulya Hidayat also expressed concern that opening the industry up to foreign investment could threaten independent cinema businesses. Meanwhile, the Association of Indonesian Film Producers (APROFI) has commended the policy for inviting investment. (liz/kes) (+)
