S’pore Works With China — In More Ways Than One1 min read

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A total of eleven MoUs (Memorandum of Understanding) were signed at the Singapore Media Business Forum in Beijing last Saturday, amounting to a total of $33.4 million worth of deals spanning the government, business, academic and media sectors.

Among the eleven is a research collaboration between the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Singapore Media Development Authority. This agreement calls for the two bodies to set up the China-Singapore Institute of Digital Media, to be based in Singapore, for interactive digital research and development.

The local film industry also received a strong backing from the Raffles China Media Fund set up by Neo Studios (founded by director Jack Neo), which will support China-Singapore film distribution in China.

Prior to these developments, MDA had also signed a deal with China’s SARFT (State Administration for Radio, Film and Television) for bilateral cooperation. Minister of Information, Communications and the Arts, Dr Lee Boon Yang, explained: “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.”

With over 13 million DTV (digital television) subscribers since 2006, the China digital media market has seen a three-fold increase year-on-year, proving itself to be a lucrative market.