Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum while speaking in Parliament [Source: Fijian Government]

With an investment of about $5 million, Fiji can be made more attractive for film shoots.

Minister for Economy Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum said this while responding to question by Opposition MP Mikaele Leawere on whether the Government is looking at establishing a movie studio.

Sayed- Khaiyum says the Government is not going to be in the business of setting up a studio itself but are encouraging the private sector.

He adds the Government had zero rated duty on equipment to be used for film production

“In Fiji while the challenges we have is that they have to bring all the equipment them. That, of course, can be in fact can have a deleterious impact on a company’s ability or commitment to shoot in Fiji. We except that. So we are trying to build that kind of capacity and in fact, we talking to some local companies who may be interested in doing so we believe that with an investment of $4m to $5m we can have good editing machines, good cameras that will even make us more attractive for shoots.”

More than five-hundred Fijians gained employment through various movie productions last year.