Asian countries join forces to tackle world recession

Media industry leaders in Asia have established a 460 million yuan ($67.2 million) fund to combat the global downturn for the next five years.

Initiated by Hong Kong's Salon Films Group and unveiled during the recent Asia Media Festival (AMF) in Singapore, the money will be used to produce a slate of feature films, TV series, animations and interactive games.

Hengdian World Studios, the largest studio facility in China, and Yoshimoto Kogyo, a talent management agency from Japan, are also on board to finance, produce and distribute content from the Asia Pacific region.

Cooperation during troubled economic times is essential, said Fred Wang, chairman of the Salon Films Group, Hong Kong, and Christopher Chia, chief executive officer of the Singapore Media Development Authority (MDA).

China's media was represented in Singapore by its top regulator, the State Administration for Radio, Film and Television (SARFT) and broadcaster CCTV.

A week-long China Film Festival was held and six films were screened for the public. CCTV staged a prestigious networking opportunity with producers from around the world and shared its experience of using new media technologies during the Beijing Olympics.

China Educational TV also agreed to co-produce 10 documentaries with MDA, one of many transnational deals signed in Singapore.

Liu Zhijiang, assistant president of Hengdian Group Holdings which runs the vast studio in East China, says his company has hosted more than 90 domestic and overseas TV and movies so far in 2008, 10 more than last year.

"The business is going very well," Liu said. "There is no sign yet that the global crisis is affecting us."

Chia thinks that the collaboration between Asian countries will bring profound benefits to those involved. "The cooperation not only helps local companies become more internationally active, but also keeps all companies involved engaged with each other," he said.

On the festival's fifth day Japanese giant Sony announced it was cutting 8,000 jobs but the gloomy news did not dent the optimism of Lee Boon Yang, Singapore's Minister of Information, Communication and the Arts.

"Despite the global economic slowdown, the long-term growth outlook for Asia's media industry remains encouraging and is expected to grow at 8.8 percent annually," he said.

"The economic downturn may reduce the actual growth but with a competitive cost structure, a growing audience of young and affluent middle-class people, as well as greater connectivity to digital content, Asia will continue to attract investors in search of opportunities."

Questions:

1. How much was the media fund that was set up to combat the global downturn for the next five years valued at?

2. Which film group initiated the venture?

3. What will the money be used for?

Answers:

1. 460 million yuan.

2. Hong Kong's Salon Films Group.

3. To produce a slate of feature films, TV series, animations and interactive games