ALOR SETAR: Sungai Kedah will become a racing circuit for international powerboat racers when the Kedah World Powerboat Championship 2026 takes place from Nov 5 to 7.
The event, to be held near the Muda Agricultural Development Authority headquarters in Ampang Jajar, is expected to attract more than 5,000 visitors.
Kedah tourism committee chairman Datuk Mohd Salleh Saidin said the championship would be the first international powerboat event of its kind to be held on a river in Malaysia.
He said teams and racers from the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Finland, Italy, China, Australia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong were expected to take part.
Unlike powerboat races normally held at sea or on lakes, he said Sungai Kedah would present competitors with a different set of challenges.
Mohd Salleh said the event would help promote Kedah as a destination for international sporting events and introduce river-based motorsports as a tourism attraction.
He said local food operators, small traders, tourism businesses and service providers were expected to benefit from the influx of visitors.
Kedah's Darul Aman Information Secretariat reported that Mohd Salleh announced the championship at the Kedah State Museum here.
The championship is part of the state government's efforts to diversify its tourism attractions and tap the potential of its waterways for sports tourism.
