President Jokowi: Sports Industry Can be Utilized as Economic Booster

The theme of National Sports Day XXXVII, attended by President Jokowi virtually from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province, Wednesday (9/9). (Photo by: BPMI)

Sports can serve as a booster to drive the economy through the development of national sports tourism, President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo stated.

“The sports industry has a very broad scope, starting from the event industry, the clothing industry, shoe industry, football industry, and others,” the President said when virtually attending the National Sports Day XXXVII from the Bogor Presidential Palace, West Java Province, Wednesday (9/9).

Furthermore, President Jokowi stated, sports also involve media and broadcasting industries or even industry for souveniers, trophies, stickers, and others. Sports, he said, can involve MSMEs to multinational giant companies. “The target market is not only the local people, not only the national market but also the global market,” he added.

“Sports tourism has become a new tourism trend with a very large market, which will provide a multiplier effect on people’s economic activities,” the President said.

Indonesia, according to the President, has many potential beautiful places for the development of sport tourism, ranging from mountains, seas, and lakes, which in addition to being beautiful in nature, the places are also rich in arts and culture.

The President went on to say that these places can be utilized for various sporting events, such as gliding, diving, cycling, athletics, and other recreational sports.

“The opportunity to develop sports tourism is getting bigger after the pandemic,” President Jokowi said. The people, according to him, would prefer to exercise and travel in open spaces, in the wild.

“We must make the best use of this opportunity for Indonesia and its beautiful nature,” the President said. (FID/EN)

Translated by: Fairuzzamani Inayatillah
Reviewed by: Yuyu Mulyani