Nazri calls on local companies to sponsor international events, penetrate global market

Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz said Bumiputera companies in particular should also look into the move as it was one of the best opportunities to market their products and generate more income.

"The government wants to see more wholly-owned local companies to prove their capabilities to compete at the international level, while at the same time helping the government in ensuring success for the Visit Malaysia Year (VMY) 2014," he said when launching the Drive M7 Aspar Team here, Tuesday.

The launch also saw a Bumiputera company, Drive M7 Sdn Bhd, became the main sponsor for the Spain-based team, which will promote Malaysia's name at 19 MotoGP circuits worldwide for the next three years.

Also present were team president, Jorge Martinez, Drive M7 executive chairman Datuk Ahmad Kemin and Sepang International Circuit (SIC) chief executive officer Datuk Razlan Razali.

The Drive M7 Aspar Team features the combination of 2006 MotoGP champion Nicky Hayden from the United States and 2009 250cc champion Hiroshi Aoyama from Japan, using the new Honda RCV1000R, for this year's race.

However, the amount of investment made by the company to sponsor the team was not disclosed.

Meanwhile, Razlan said the organising of the motoring events in the country could help enliven the VMY because based on the study made by the SIC in 2011, the organising of Formula One (F1) championship had brought in RM210 million, mostly from foreign tourists came to watch the race and spent approximately RM7,000 each within their three- to five-day stay in the country.