Mohd Hairi says Johor is looking at hosting more prestigious events in the near future.
JOHOR wants more prestigious local and international sporting events staged in the state to draw crowds.
State youth, sports, entrepreneur development, cooperatives and human resources committee chairman Mohd Hairi Mad Shah noted two international sporting events were coming soon.
The Johor International Petanque Men’s and Women’s Double Championship 2022 will be held on Aug 27 and 28 while Spartan Stadion Malaysia 2022 is set to take place on Sept 24.
“During a recent working committee meeting, I asked the organisers of both events to focus on promotion to attract more participants, especially from overseas,” he said.
Johor had hosted two international sporting events so far this year, namely Létape Malaysia in June and Iron Man 70.3 Desaru Coast last month.
Mohd Hairi also said the Johor International Islamic and Halal Festival (Fijo) 2022 would be returning after three years.
He added that the four-day event would be held from Sept 29 at Persada Johor International Convention Centre in Johor Baru.
“Fijo 2022 will strengthen Johor’s position as a global halal hub industry player,” he said, adding that during its debut in 2019, RM7mil in sales was recorded.
This year, the state is setting a target of more than RM20mil in sales and 150,000 visitors.
“Fijo 2022 will provide 300 lots for local and international entrepreneurs to display their halal products.
“International participants will be coming from Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, United Kingdom as well as several Middle East countries,” he said.
There will be eight exhibitor clusters such as information technology and telecommunications, government agencies, food technology, finance and ecommerce, industrial and machinery, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and fashion as well as tourism and education.
Mohd Hairi urged local entrepreneurs to take advantage of the growing halal market to meet global demand.
“Over US$1.2tril (RM5.34tril) was spent to buy halal products in 2018 and it is expected to increase to US$1.9tril (RM8.45tril) this year,” he said.
