TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of Indonesia`s Creative Economy Agency, Triawan Munaf, said the country should have more movie theaters, and foreign investment in the national film industry should be allowed for this purpose.
Triawan Munaf said on Friday that Indonesian cinemas currently have 1,117 screens in all.
"This number is equivalent to the number of total screens in just Beijing, China. We should have a minimum of 10,000 screens in Indonesia," Munaf said.
To increase the number of movie screens in the country, domestic investment is not enough. Allowing foreign investment is also necessary, Munaf said.
There is nothing to be afraid of if the country has foreign-owned cinemas, Munaf said.
"The competition, in fact, will also lead to better quality and enhanced level of services in the cinema and movie industry," he said.
Moreover, it will also reduce the ticket price, thus attracting more viewers.
The foreign investment will also back the Indonesian movie makers to come up with better productions as funding is a major problem faced by the national film industry.
Currently, around 80 percent of movies in the Indonesian cinemas are foreign made, while the rest 20 percent are national movies.
Meanwhile, the government will make it mandatory that Indonesian movies account for at least 60 percent of the total cinema shows.
However, Munaf said, the policy will greatly impact the income of the cinema industry as the quality of national movies is still far below that of foreign ones.
"The main purpose (of the foreign investment) is to stimulate the national film industry," Munaf said.
ANTARA
