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More incentives planned for filmmakers |
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Tourism and Sports Minister Weerasak Kohsurat pledged yesterday to offer ''attractive'' incentives for foreign film productions in a bid to promote Thailand as a prime location for the industry. ''The privileges to be offered would be competitive and on par with those currently offered by various countries in the region such as South Korea, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Vietnam,'' he said. The cabinet approved a proposal for the ministry to work with the Board of Investment and Finance Ministry to study tax incentives and more privileges for foreign film shoots in Thailand. According to Wanasiri Morakul, the director of the Thailand Film Office, incentives would cover value-added tax refunds for spending of at least one million baht, and tax exemptions for productions with at least 70% of the work by Thai studios or production houses. She said the authorities would also look for bilateral agreements with other countries to provide more tax incentives for trans-border film shoots.
Foreign film productions in Thailand in the first six months rose to 297
from 263 in the same period last year. Revenue rose to 1.37 billion baht
from 487 million. Last year, foreign film shoots in Thailand totalled
215, generating 1.13 billion baht. The figures cover feature films, TV
series, commercials, music videos, documentaries and other productions.
The Thailand Film Office earlier projected revenue this year at 1.7
billion baht, helped by three Hollywood features to be shot in Thailand.
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Bangkok Post/Asia Pulse, 03.07.2008 |
