SEPANG, April 7 — The Youth and Sports Ministry (KBS) is committed to fighting for a 25 per cent reduction in entertainment tax on ticket prices for the Malaysian Grand Prix Motorcycle World Championship (MotoGP), to be held this November.
Its minister Hannah Yeoh said besides sports events, the ministry also received many requests for exemption or reduction in entertainment tax for youth-related events.
"The price of MotoGP tickets is expensive, so we will fight for it (to reduce entertainment tax)," she told reporters at the Ramadan Ihya' event with the media and Sepang International Circuit (SIC) residents yesterday.
Meanwhile, Yeoh said it was quite impossible for Malaysia to bring back Formula 1 (F1) given the high cost of organising it.
Instead, the ministry would prioritise giving funds to SIC, RM20 million for upgrading infrastructure to attract more local or international events to be held there.
Malaysia has been hosting F1 races since 1999 before the government decided to end them in 2017 due to a significant decline in returns.
Meanwhile, SIC chief executive officer Azhan Shafriman Hanif promised a difference in the MotoGP at SIC, scheduled from November 10 to November 12.
In another development, he said the circuit paving work at turns 7 to 12 of the 5.54-kilometre-long circuit had reached 40 per cent.
Azhan expressed confidence that the paving work can be completed by the last week of this month before the Porsche Carrera Asia Cup, scheduled for April 29 and April 30.
The last time SIC upgraded the circuit was in 2016.
— Bernama
