Singapore and France Thursday signed a deal to boost bilateral audiovisual collaborations and co-productions.

    The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by Singapore's Media Development Authority (MDA) and France's Canal France International (CFI) on the sidelines of the Asia Media Festival 2007 which is held here.

    A joint statement said that two proposed events to launch the deal next year include a digital broadcasting workshop and a co-production networking session.

    The former aims to provide technical and policy training to support the collective effort of ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) countries to adopt a common digital TV broadcasting standard, while the latter aims to bring together TV, film and animation producers from Singapore and France to discuss potential collaborations.

    Christopher Chia, chief executive officer of MDA, the government agency charting the development of Singapore's media industry, said in the statement that, "The MOU will spur greater industry collaborations between Singapore and France, which will help both countries to develop their international networks, and create more growth opportunities for Singapore media enterprises.

    Jean Mino, managing director of CFI, said, "I'm certain this agreement will bring more understanding between Europe and Asia. This MOU will help the development of both Asian and European television industries that are facing the same kind of challenges in this new digital world."

    In recent years, Singapore has forged several international co-production agreements and media MOUs with Australia, Canada, Japan, Korea New Zealand and various ASEAN countries, aiming to promote the vibrant media industry to be a new economic growth.