North Sulawesi to Not Impose Levy Taxes for Film Production
Jakarta. The North Sulawesi provincial government will not impose levy taxes for local film production to improve the tourism sector in the province, a statement released by the Ministry of Tourism said on Wednesday (22/11).
"I have instructed the regional chiefs to not implement levy taxes in order to improve the Indonesian film industry," North Sulawesi Governor Olly Dondokambey said after the annual Indonesian Film Festival in Manado on Nov. 11, as quoted in the statement.
Olly added that film is also one of the most effective ways to promote North Sulawesi as a tourist destination to increase the local economy.
The collaboration, according to him, will benefit both parties — for the government, tourist destinations in North Sulawesi will be exposed in movies, while for film producers, the elimination of film taxes will reduce production costs.
"We will provide easy access to shooting locations, including financing [movies] if more than 50 percent of the movie is shot in Manado; not from the APBD [regional governmental budget], but we will find investors," the governor said.
Several movies have been shot in North Sulawesi, including "Senjakala di Manado" ("Twilight in Manado") released in 2016, "Tommi n Jerri" released in September this year and "Hujan Bulan Juni" ("Rain in June") released in November.
Tourism Minister Arief Yahya said that regulations are factors often found troublesome by investors, thus President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo has insisted that deregulation is needed to accelerate all development sectors, including tourism.
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