Chinese, Singaporean Companies Strengthen Media Ties

BEIJING, October 16: As part of the ongoing Singapore Season
China 2007, a cultural diplomacy initiative, Chinese and Singaporean companies
have forged agreements worth at least S$33.4 million ($22.7 million).

In all, 17 media-related government, business and academic
agreements are expected to be signed between China and Singapore as part of the
Singapore Season China 2007. Of these, 11 were inked at the China-Singapore
Media Business Forum in Beijing, an event organized by the Media Development
Authority of Singapore (MDA) for industry players from both countries to
network and learn about the business opportunities in the media sectors. The
signed MOUs serve to facilitate bilateral government cooperation, media
research and business projects and academic exchanges.

The MDA has inked a media cooperation deal with China’s
State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), which aims to
enhance bilateral partnership through information exchange; facilitate
co-production of film and television projects between China and Singapore
companies; and encourage reciprocal participation in key media-related events.
Another agreement was also signed with the Film Bureau of SARFT, which
formalized the agreement between both countries to co-organize each other’s
film festivals, beginning with the Singapore Film Festival in Beijing, which
runs from October 13-18.

Facilitating media research is a collaboration between the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Automation and MDA for the creation
of the China-Singapore Institute of Digital Media in Singapore. To be ready by
next year, the research institute will involve some 40 researchers from China
working on interactive digital media (IDM) research and development.

Singaporean director Jack Neo’s newly established Neo
Studios, which launched a media financing initiative targeted at the China
market, is making a push into China as well. With an initial funding of S$10
million ($6.8 million), the Raffles China Media Fund will support the
co-investment and co-production of films for distribution in China. Through the
fund, Neo Studios will produce films for three years with the Shanghai Film
Group Corporation, Xian’s Western Movie Group and Hong Kong’s Big Media Group,
the production company of Mei Ah Entertainment.

Another Singapore film production company, World Without
Borders, will be producing two films with partners from Hunan and Chengdu: Year, which is the first feature film in a planned
trilogy called Nian, Yue, Ri, and
the second is an English animated film titled You are My Sunshine.

First launched in London in 2005, Singapore Season strives
to raise awareness of Singapore as a multicultural global city and showcase its
global connectivity and attractiveness as a place to live, work and play. The
patron of Singapore Season is Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong. Singapore Season
in China 2007 is the second in the series of overseas ventures. Since China and
Singapore established diplomatic relations more than ten years ago, economic
cooperation between the two countries has grown steadily and is expected to
increase further. China is now Singapore’s third largest trading partner and
top foreign investment destination.

Dr. Lee Boon Yang, Singapore’s minister for information,
communications and the arts, commented: “China is quickly becoming a key
producer and market for media content and services. Singapore companies would
like to work with Chinese enterprises as we believe there is strong synergy in our
respective media sectors to produce compelling media products not just for our
home audiences but also for the global market. It is this synergy which
underpins the 17 Memoranda of Understanding between China and Singapore signed
during the Singapore Season.”

—By Kristin Brzoznowski