IPOH: Superstar Datuk Michelle Yeoh will be lending her voice for one of the characters in Kung Fu Panda 2: The Kaboom of Doom due for release in May.

Yeoh said she has started recording the voice-over in Paris for her character, the soothsayer.

The Kung Fu Panda 2 cast also included Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Angelina Jolie and Seth Rogan.

Yeoh, who returned to her hometown here on Jan 28 to celebrate Chinese New Year, attended the open house hosted by Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir on Thursday.

Accompanying her were her mother Datin Janet Yeoh, relatives and friends.

Yeoh said she had just completed shooting the The Lady – a movie about Myanmar freedom fighter Aung San Suu Kyi.

The film, she said, is scheduled to be released in August internationally but the release date in Malaysia was not known yet.

Meanwhile, Dr Zambry told reporters at the open house that many Perakians now working in other states are planning to return home as the state’s economy has improved by leaps and bounds.

He said many of them had enquired about the business and job opportunities available as they could see Perak gearing towards a developed state status.

“We will always welcome them back to help develop Perak.

“With more investments coming in, there will be many job opportunities for the people,” he said.

Dr Zambry said foreigners also made enquiries and business proposals.

“I have been invited by investors in Japan, the United States and Germany to see businesses in their home countries.

“They have also said they are keen to set up ventures here,” he added.

On prospects in the Year of the Rabbit, he hoped it would bring further growth and prosperity to the state, adding that his Chinese New Year open house will be an annual event.

Also present were Perak MCA Wanita chief Heng Seai Kie and state MIC chairman Datuk S. Veerasingam