Foreign production houses flock to Malaysia, attracted by incentives and experienced crew, talent

IPOH, July 14 — Malaysia is fast becoming one of the favourite spots for foreign productions, especially those from Hong Kong and China, to shoot their productions here.

According to statistics provided by the Central Agency for Application for Filming and Performance by Foreign Artistes (Puspal), at least five companies have been approved to shoot their production as of June this year as compared to 10 companies in the whole of 2023.

Of the five, two are from Hong Kong and the rest are from China.

Among them are Hong Kong actor and TVB general manager Eric Tsang who revealed to the media that he would be coming to Malaysia in August to shoot a Chinese New Year movie with local producer Jack Lim.

Tsang was quoted by Oriental Daily that besides himself, there are more Hong Kong artists who will be coming to Malaysia soon to shoot their movies.

“Malaysia is a place we consider for our productions due to the standards that have seen much improvement over the years,” he reportedly said.

Concurring with Tsang, Puspal said Malaysia’s suitable shooting location was one of the reasons foreign productions are coming to shoot their movies here.

“Being a multilingual country also makes it attractive for production companies to shoot here as the crew can communicate with each other well,” it said, adding that the existence of experienced local sponsors also plays a role in the matter.

Meanwhile, the availability of extra financial incentives under the Film In Malaysia Incentive (FIMI) was another reason why foreign productions are coming to Malaysia to film.

Under FIMI, there will be a 30 percent cash rebate on qualifying Malaysian spend for foreign and domestic producers for content development specifically for film, television and other screen production in Malaysia.

FIMI applications are processed through the Film in Malaysia Office (Fimo), a division of National Film Development Corporation Malaysia (Finas).

Malaysian director and producer Jin Ong of Abang Adik fame said Fimo’s cash rebate has helped to save on production costs.

He added that our well-equipped production houses are also another added attraction.

Agreeing with Ong, Film Directors’ Association of Malaysia (FDAM) member Ken Soh said the low production costs are why foreign production companies are flocking to Malaysia to shoot their movies.

“Malaysia also has a large pool of experienced production teams, crews, actors and extras to help in the production besides multi-racial actors who can speak multiple languages,” he added.