Malaysia to host South Indian movie awards event

For the first time, Malaysia will host the prestigious South Indian International Movie Awards (SIIMA) next month with organisers expecting participation of over 100 movie stars.
The two-day mega event to be held at Stadium Negara here on September 12-13 will see performances by several Southern film stars.
Southern movie actors Tamanna, Anirudh, Devi Sri Prasad, Shriya Saran, Shiv Rajkumar, Lakshmi Menon, Nivin Pauly, Regina and Rakul Preet are expected to perform at the event, Malaysia Major Events (MME) general manager Tony Nagamaiah said.
The event is expected to bring more than 5,000 international visitors, especially from India and neighbouring countries, as it is being held for the first time in Southeast Asia, Tony said.

For the past two consecutive years, SIIMA was held in the Middle East.
"India and Malaysia have enjoyed an excellent relationship over the decades and India is one of our top tourist markets. Given that the Indian diaspora is stretched across the Southeast Asia region and further, we are confident that fans from our neighbouring countries will also take this opportunity to experience the South Indian cinema industry," Tony was quoted as saying by Bernama news agency.
India is one of Malaysia's top tourist markets with over 6,50,000 Indian travellers visiting the country last year while this year the target is set at 7,00,000 arrivals, he said.

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