SEPANG – The Youth and Sports Ministry has said it is committed to fighting for a 25% entertainment tax reduction on tickets for November’s MotoGP Malaysian Grand Prix (GP).
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 the entertainment tax),” she told reporters yesterday at a Ramadan Ihya’ event with the media and Sepang International Circuit (SIC) personnel here.
Meanwhile, Hannah said it was quite impossible for the Formula One (F1) Malaysian GP to be brought back given the high cost of organising it.
Instead, she said, the ministry would prioritise funding infrastructure upgrades at SIC to the tune of RM20 million to attract more local and international events.
Malaysia had been hosting F1 races since 1999 before the government decided to end the much-loved GP in 2017 due to a significant decline in returns.
Meanwhile, SIC chief executive Azhan Shafriman Hanif promised a difference in this year’s MotoGP grand prix, scheduled from November 10 to 12.
In another development, he said circuit paving works at turns 7 to 12 of the 5.54-km-long circuit were 40% complete, and was confident it could be completed by the last week of this month ahead of the Porsche Carrera Asia Cup race scheduled for April 29 and 30.
The last time SIC upgraded the circuit was in 2016. – Bernama, April 7, 2023
