Malaysian 4As president Datuk Vincent Lee confirmed that the new rules would be introduced this year, but insisted that they would be "positive rather than punitive" for international advertisers.
"There will be a focus on incentives to shoot in Malaysia - such as tax relief - rather than penalties for ads shot abroad," said Lee. "It is a push and pull strategy."
An official announcement has yet to be made by Malaysia’s Ministry of Information, but existing MIM rules - which stipulate that 80 per cent of total production costs should be spent in Malaysia - are expected to be tightened. The MIM regulations, first drafted in the 1980s, require commercials to be produced by, and feature, Malaysian citizens. Filming, film processing and post-production must all be done in Malaysia.
