Hasbro Entertainment is banking on the Asian hub of Malaysia to expand its footprint globally.

The toy giant’s production division has signed a new agreement with the National Film Development Corporation (FINAS)—the government agency that oversees growth and development in the Malaysian film and creative sector.

Under the multi-year pact, Hasbro will partner with two of the top local studios—Lil Critter Workshop (Buck and Buddy) and Omens Studios (Leo the Wildlife Ranger)—to produce its upcoming animated kids projects for digital, streaming and broadcast. 

“Expanding our kids series animation production footprint is central to Hasbro’s long-term strategy to deliver world-class storytelling across platforms,” president of licensing and entertainment Kim Boyd explained. “Malaysia’s supportive production environment and highly skilled creative community make it an ideal partner for this next chapter of our global animation strategy.”

This deal augments a particularly strong year for Asian animation, which has enjoyed growing investments and breakout big-screen hits including Ne Zha 2 and Jumbo.

The Hasbro partnership should help boost Malaysia’s animation industry by supporting overall skills development and hundreds of local jobs. Meanwhile, both Omens and Lil Critter also plan to team up with other Malaysian studios to deliver further projects. 

While Hasbro’s latest slate of upcoming projects has been live-action heavy, the banner has been in production on an animated Magic: The Gathering series for Netflix since late last year.