Bollywood’s a superhit

CEBU CITY: Bollywood made a surprise entry into the India-Asean summit meeting. Some Asean members, notably Malaysia, proposed that Bollywood could strike partnerships with Asean counterparts for production of films.

Commerce minister Kamal Nath was informed that Bollywood films are becoming popular in the region and there is a business opportunity to be explored. Mr Nath also said India and Asean will soon begin talks on an open sky policy.

The Prime Minister also spoke of new areas of co-operation with Asean in his address. He highlighted the need to enhance science and technological co-operation between India and Asean. He said steps must be taken to operationalise the proposed technology development fund as early as possible.

The Prime Minister said there was immense scope to pool ���our knowledge and create more wealth��� through innovation. The technology fund should support the development of strategic alliances between Indian and Asean researchers and lead to ���collaborative R&D���. The Prime Minister said officials on both sides have been mandated to decide the details of the structure and financing of the fund.