Bringing Back Local Movies

The public should welcome the government's plan to open the local film industry to foreign investors, when film making is taken off from the negative investment list (DNI) stipulated in Presidential Regulation No. 39/2014 on business sectors closed and open to capital investment.

So far, foreign investors can only invest in the technical aspects of the film industry, such as building studios, processing labs, audio dubbing facilities and film printing or copying facilities. Moreover, they are only allowed to control 49 percent of shares, with the rest to be owned by local investors. Production, screening and distribution, including establishing theaters, were sought-after businesses but off limits to foreign investors due to the DNI, which mandates 100 percent of the investment to local parties.