President Prabowo Highlights Sports Tourism, Development of Young National Athletes

President Prabowo Subianto receives a visit from MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez with two young Indonesian racers, Mario Aji and Veda Ega Pratama, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Tuesday (09/30). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

President Prabowo Subianto emphasized the importance of developing sports tourism in nurturing national athletes during the visit of MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez and two young Indonesian racers, Mario Aji and Veda Ega Pratama, at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, Tuesday (09/30).

During the meeting, President Prabowo gave instructions to the Minister of Youth and Sports Erick Thohir to continuously improve sports tourism due to its broad impact on the national economy.

Erick then mentioned Mandalika as a real example.

“Sports tourism must be improved because of its huge impact on both sports and the national economy. We can see that in Mandalika, the economic impact is nearly Rp4.8 trillion. Tickets are also almost sold out. This is a positive thing,” said Erick Thohir to the media after the meeting.

He also explained that President Prabowo instructed his Ministry to pay serious attention to leading sports branches while encouraging young athletes to train and compete abroad. This is expected to improve their quality and competitiveness at the international level.

“We will start to look at those leading sports branches and also encourage athletes to be able to compete or train abroad, like these athletes who are training in Barcelona, Spain. These are the issues that the President hopes for in the future,” Erick elaborated.

In addition, the President highlighted the importance of welfare guarantees for athletes and coaches in the future. “The President also supports the pension fund program for athletes and coaches. We are still reviewing it. It is an extraordinary program,” Erick added.

In addition to the development of sports tourism, Erick also mentioned the challenges often faced by racers at the Mandalika Circuit. According to him, the circuit often gives extreme challenges, including spectacular actions as well as risks, that must be anticipated.

“When I met Valentino Rossi, he also said that Mandalika is good but quite challenging for the racers. So yes, this is indeed special for them,” he remarked. (BPMI) (EST/MMB)