LETTER: Media mart not to be missed

THE articles by Ian Christie and Sarah Helm ("High noon for British film" and "US rules Europe's screens", 26 February) are a breath of fresh air. All too often the Anglo-Saxon voice is diametrically opposed to our partners in Europe and we have shown little understanding of their determination to enhance diversity in the face of American cultural domination.

The audio-visual market is the fastest growing strategic sector of the European economy. A Japanese minister at the recent G7 summit in Brussels revealed that the Japanese market for information and media services this year would be 123 trillion yen, compared to Toyota's total anual turnover of only 6 trillion yen. If we are to benefit from the huge expansion in jobs and products that the dawning of the information society could bring we must be as vigorous as the Americans in government action to retain our capacity to produce and exhibit our own films and to survive as a world cultural force.

This demands that the Government adopts a serious policy of positive fiscal and other incentives for the promotion of our film and multimedia industries.

Carole Tongue MEP

Brussels