KUCHING: With all the infrastructures already in place, Sarawak is now a place for film production, enthused Tourism Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg.
He said it had made the state suitable for shooting of films of all genres – whether romance, action, crime or whatever.
“The state has great potential for film production. So far, one movie called ‘Farewell to the King’ had been produced in Sarawak. At that time our infrastructure was not in place yet but today the infrastructure is there already for us to produce films,” he said.
He said with the infrastructure now already in place it will not be a surprise if film makers who will converge here this weekend will pick Sarawak as their venue for the shooting of their films.
“This weekend, many famous Hollywood, Bollywood as well as Asian film stars will converge on the city to see for themselves what the state can offer.
“Also coming along with them will be the film producers and directors who want to expose us to the cinematic discipline and hopefully they will choose Sarawak as their film shooting location,” he said.
Abang Johari, who is also Housing Minister, disclosed this during the signing ceremony of Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between I-Systems College Kuching (ISK) and Hilton Kuching here yesterday.
He earlier said that the state had become an important tourist destination because of its rich biodiversity as well as the unique indigenous culture that could not be found anywhere else in the world.
Taking into account all these factors, he believed the future of the tourism industry in the state, including the service and hospitality sector, would be very promising.
Added to that, he disclosed, Sarawak also has many other advantages for its tourism industry to grow but it was up to the players to explore them.