KOTA KINABALU: The Youth and Sports Ministry will present a cabinet paper next month on setting up a sports industry sector, said Minister Hannah Yeoh today.
A sports industry sector refers to the collective businesses, organisations and activities involved in the sports-related market.
This sector includes professional sports leagues, sports teams, sports equipment manufacturers, sports media, sports marketing agencies and sports facilities.
"There are other industries surrounding sports.
"When we did a town hall with them, the whole industry seems to be focused on supplements.
"But now you are talking about services, insurance, gym operators.
"Now it is very ad hoc (in terms of data collection).
"You do tournaments and conferences, you tell me how much the participants are spending. We are gauging only how much they have spent.
"But once we have that department established, it will make it very easy for data collection."
She said this at the news conference for 18th Asian Federation of Sports Medicine Congress.
The event, which was held at the Sabah International Convention Centre, was launched by the prime minister's wife, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.
Yeoh said collection data was important to receive more assistance from the Finance Ministry, and there would also be more investors.
"Now, (the allocation) is heavily given to the Health Ministry for (sports) treatment, but like Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah said, sports is for all.
"It is about prevention. We need to spend not only on treatment but also on the science behind prevention of injuries.
"I hope the Youth and Sports Ministry will no longer be seen as a small ministry that looks at athletes and youth as there is an industry there for taxes.
"We have to do (the cabinet paper) very soon, probably in a month."
Meanwhile, for the event, which has about 500 participants from Asia, Yeoh said Malaysia was an ideal host for not only sports tournaments but also international conferences.
"Today is a very good start, because they brought together four ministries: Youth and Sports Ministry, Health Ministry and Higher Education Ministry with the involvement of universities and the Tourism Ministry.
"This is what the prime minister wants us to do: collaborating (among ministries) instead of people doing their own thing, as we achieve more if we bring everyone together."