KOTA KINABALU: The cabinet paper regarding efforts to establish the sports industry sector is expected to be presented to the Cabinet within a month, says Minister of Youth and Sports Hannah Yeoh.
She said the cabinet paper aimed at establishing the sector under the Ministry of Youth and Sports was crucial for expanding the scope of the sports industry in the country, and not just focus on training or athletes.
According to her, the scope includes sports medicine, supplements, insurance, gym operators and sports facilities, organising sports activities and conferences and various other sports-related activities that have the potential to increase the country’s income.
“It is important to look at the industry revolving around sports itself and see how we can work together under this ministry. We establish the sports industry sector and collaborate with the Department of Statistics (DOSM) to collect related data to move forward.
“We have been working with DOSM before this but the data is all about the retail value that comes through sports, when there are sports events organised, we look at how much is spent but we want more than that scope, so we hope the sports industry sector achieves our aspirations,“ she said.
She said this during a press conference after the opening of the 18th Asian Federation of Sports Medicine Congress and the 8th National Sports Institute Sports Medicine and Sports Science Conference, officiated by the Prime Minister’s wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Hannah said that with more comprehensive data involving the sports industry sector, her ministry would be able to better stimulate the growth of sports in the country by bringing in more funds and investments into the industry.
“With this move, the Ministry of Youth and Sports will no longer be seen as a small ministry that only looks after youth and sports. There is a whole industry there that we can explore and which can benefit the people,“ she said.
She added that the establishment of the sports industry sector was also expected to enable the government to allocate more specific funds for the ministry, particularly in the fields of sports medicine and sports science, which were currently mainly allocated to the Ministry of Health.
