A 10-year-old sister state relationship between the Australian state of Queensland and the Gyeonggi Province of South Korea has been extended into the film arena with this week's signing of a memorandum of understanding.

The agreement is between the Gyeonggi Film Commission, the Gyeonggi Digital Contents Agency, and the Pacific Film and Television Commission (PFTC). Its aim is to exchange ideas, information, skills and technologies to foster the development of film and digital content and promote understanding and cooperation.

A delegation of Korean business people and politicians is in Queensland until the end of this week and includes representatives of both organisations. They have had meetings with staff of the PFTC, the screen resource and development centre QPIX, and Warner Roadshow Studios.

An action plan alongside the agreement states that the longer-term objective is to establish stronger ties between the Queensland and Korean film industries, in the form of co-productions, studio and producer joint ventures, shared content between the Brisbane International Film Festival and Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, and training opportunities and exchange programmes centred on digital media, CGI and animation. Queensland will now be integral in Gyeonggi's planned film cluster, Cineopolis.

A PFTC spokesperson said that there were not yet specific projects in development under the agreement. Increasingly, Korean films are coming to Australia for location work and post-production.

The agreement was signed at Parliament House in Brisbane and is being described by the Queensland Government as a national first. Gyeonggi Province Governor Moon Soo Kim attended the ceremony. A similar agreement was signed between the University of Queensland's National Research Centre for Environmental Toxicology and the Gyeonggi Institute of Health and Environment.

Both signings complement the 2007-08 Gyeonggi Action Plan, which specifies an objective to grow trade and investment between Queensland and Gyeonggi in four key sectors: the creative industries, environmental management, infrastructure services, and education and training.

'Maintaining the success of Queensland's screen industry requires ongoing commitment and marketing creativity to stave off international competition,' said Queensland Arts Minister Rod Welford. ' Queensland can now tap into burgeoning Asian film markets and generate significant commercial benefits for local companies engaged on Korean productions.'

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