OREANDA-NEWS. May 15, 2015. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, today gave its approval for entering into an Audio-Visual Co-Production Agreement between India and the Republic of Korea (RoK) and to complete internal ratification procedure, to enable the agreement to come into force.

The Agreement will be signed during the forthcoming visit of the Prime Minister to RoK.

Cooperation between the film industries of the two countries will not only promote export of Indian films but would also act as a catalyst towards creating awareness about India and its culture. This will help in increasing bilateral trade between both countries.

The following benefits are expected to accrue, from the proposed agreement on a Government-to-Government basis:

i. Producers from both countries would get an opportunity to pool their creative, artistic, technical, financial and marketing resources to co-produce films.

ii. It will boost bilateral ties.

iii. It will lead to exchange of art and culture among the two countries and create goodwill and better understanding among the peoples of both the countries.

iv. Co-productions would provide an opportunity to create and showcase the 'soft power' of India.

v. It would lead to generation of employment among artistic, technical as well as non-technical personnel engaged in the arena of film production including post-production and its marketing, thus adding to the country's GDP.

vi. The utilization of Indian locales for shooting raises the visibility / prospects of India as a preferred film shooting destination across the globe.

vii. It will lead to inflow of foreign exchange into the country,

viii. It will lead to transparent funding of film production.

Background

RoK is a major East Asian country with which India has been able to establish a multifaceted relationship over a period of time. The audiovisual co-production agreement would open up new frontiers for the film industries of both countries. An audiovisual co-production agreement between India and RoK is expected to open doors for wide ranging collaboration and lead to strengthening of India’s cultural presence in an important part of the world.