DURING a visit to Vietnam in January, US Motion Picture Association chief Jack Valenti lamented the '100 per cent' piracy rate of intellectual property in the country.
However, almost six months after ratifying a copyright agreement with the United States, Vietnam has begun taking steps to bring in legal copies of films and has signed a two-year contract with Media Asia Films to supply Vietnam with movies for cinematic release.
'We're working very hard to fight piracy,' said Nguyen Van Su, general director of the official Vietnam Film Export-Import Distribution Company (Fafilm Vietnam).
'We know it's very difficult but it doesn't mean we'll give up. We hope to find out how we [Fafilm and Media Asia] can work together in future.' Media Asia Films has one of the largest catalogues in Hong Kong including films starring Chow Yun-fat and Jackie Chan, such as the A Better Tomorrow and Police Story series. Despite rampant piracy, Media Asia general manager Wellington Fung believes the Hong Kong film industry should contribute to help Vietnam fight the problem.
'We can't leave any holes [for the pirates to slip through]. We have to keep fighting them [by setting up a proper system],' Mr Fung said.
'[Vietnam] has to have our support as well. And I believe that they are sincere in trying to clear up the problem.' One way, he says, is to convince the Vietnamese authorities to recognise the Hong Kong Motion Picture Industry Association (MPIA) stamp on all legal copies, and by avoiding copies that do not carry it.