The president of the Sports Bureau (ID) hopes that the sports sector can contribute in a greater way to local economic development, Pun Weng Kun said yesterday on the sidelines of a meeting of the Macao Sports Council.
Talking to the media after the meeting, Pun explained that despite the ongoing concern around the pandemic, he hoped that the organization of sports events locally would contribute to the recovery of the local economy.
“We trust that our events will attract many tourists, not just from the mainland but also from Hong Kong and other countries and regions, and that this will contribute to the development of the local economy. We hope sports can contribute more to this.” Pun also mentioned that in the later part of the year, several events would move ahead and have an immediate effect.
Referring to events such as the Macao International Marathon and the China Tennis Association (CTA) Tour Professional Finals (Macau) and National Tennis Championships, he said, “In December we have the marathon and also the finals of the national tennis championship that will take place in Macau for the second time with the support of local sponsors.” Pun noted that the series of events will start in October with the 3×3 Greater Bay Area Tour (for basketball). The finals will be hosted in Macau from October 10 to 16.
Other events will include the Macau Grand Prix, which will take place in November, and the World Table Tennis (WTT) Champions that will return after the 2021 first edition was hosted in early January this year, although the date for this is to be confirmed.
In addition to these events taking place in the last quarter (Q4) of this year, Pun also said that other topics were discussed in the meeting. These were related to the organization of the 15th National Games of China in 2025, which Macau will co-host together with Hong Kong and the Guangdong province.
