Minister Erick Thohir Instructs New Kemenpora Officials to Deliver Tangible Results
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Minister of Youth and Sports Erick Thohir has instructed the ministry’s new Secretary General Suyadi Prawiro and Deputy for Sports Industry Development Teuku Arlan Perkasa Lukman to carry out their duties with a focus on delivering tangible results.
“I entrust this mandate to the Secretary General and the Deputy: we must ensure that all the programmes we run truly deliver results that are felt by athletes, young people, the public and the government,” the minister told reporters after inaugurating the two officials in Jakarta on Friday.
He explained that Suyadi has served at the Ministry of Youth and Sports for a considerable period, having previously worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Suyadi replaces Gunawan Suswantoro, who has moved to the post of Special Staff to the Minister of Youth and Sports.
Meanwhile, the Deputy for Sports Industry Development, filled by Teuku Arlan Perkasa Lukman, is a highly important position in developing youth and sport under an investment paradigm.
The minister said sports development cannot be viewed solely from the perspective of achievement, which requires expenditure to attain.
Sporting achievement, he said, forms part of the nation’s image on the world stage, but sport can also be managed as a source of revenue through the sports industry and sports-based tourism.
The presence of a dedicated deputy handling the sports industry is a step towards seriously advancing that investment paradigm.
“The perception of the Ministry of Youth and Sports is that it is always called a cost centre. Yet this ministry is an investment. Youth is an investment. Many young people become entrepreneurs, politicians, experts at universities, scientists,” he said.
He explained that the selection process for the new deputy was also conducted through open bidding. Out of hundreds of applicants, the selection was carried out in stages to produce the best candidate.
Therefore, the minister hopes the new deputy will be able to realise a new paradigm of youth and sports development as a source of national revenue.
“Many countries have begun relying on new sources of growth — some on digital, AI and so on, and there are also things called sport tourism and the sports industry,” he said.