Malaysia To Host South Indian International Film Awards

KUALA LUMPUR: South Indian International Film Awards (SIIMA) will take place in September and is expected to generate revenue of RM25 million in tourist spending to the country, according to organizers.

Malaysia Major Events (MME) said Malaysia will host the prestigious event for the first time, is scheduled from 12 to 13 September at the National Stadium.

MME General Manager Tony Nagamaiah said more than 100 movie stars from India will present on the "red carpet event" is.

It will be celebrated with performances some famous movie stars like Tamanna, Anirudh, Devi Sri Prasad, Shriya Saran, Shiv Rajkumar, Lakshmi Menon, ceci Pauly, Regina and Rakul Preet.
Tony told a news conference that the event was expected to attract more than 5,000 international visitors, particularly from India and neighboring countries as it was held for the first time in Southeast Asia.

"India and Malaysia have very good relationship over the past few decades and the fact that India is one of the four key markets of our visitors.

Given the placement of Indian society covers the entire Southeast Asian region and other areas, we are confident that fans from neighboring countries will also take this opportunity to experience the South Indian film industry.

Tony said the organization SIIMA prove Malaysia as a preferred destination for international events and the opportunity to increase global exposure of a unique experience that Malaysia can offer.

Over the past two years in a row, SIIMA held only in the Middle East.

Tony also said that India is one of Malaysia's main tourist market with more than 650,000 Indian tourists visited Malaysia last year and this year's target is 700,000 people.

MME is a branch of Malaysia Convention and Exhibition Bureau (MyCEB) under the Ministry of Tourism and Culture.

Meanwhile, Chairman SIIMA, Vishnu Induri said Malaysia was chosen as the location for the events that are the right choice.

"Indian films are very popular here, so Malaysia is the perfect place for us to organize SIIMA and I'm very happy for the support from the government, especially in 2014 is Visit Malaysia Year," he said.

Press conference on Thursday was attended by several Indian film stars including Surya Sivakumar, Shriya Saran, Rana Daggubati and Vidyut Jammwal.

In the meantime, the Indian film stars and those present at the press conference also meditate for one minute as a tribute to the victims of the tragedy Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.