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Sat, 05 May 2001

JP/SEAG organizers short of sponsorship target

SEAG organizers short of sponsorship target

JAKARTA (JP): With only four months before the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games kick off in Kuala Lumpur, the organizers are still 7 million ringgits (US$1.83 million) short of the targeted sponsorship fund.

Bernama news agency reported on Thursday that the organizers have raised a total of some 23 million ringgits in cash.

The Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) secretary Sieh Kok Chi said that the Youth and Sports Ministry managed to raise 15.2 million ringgits from four SEA Games partners of state-owned companies Petronas, Proton, Tenaga Nasional Berhad and Telekom Malaysia.

Another 8 million ringgits had been raised by OCM through its sponsorship deals with Coca-Cola, Nestle, Spritzer, Antioni and Bata.

"We are still looking for sponsors to meet the shortfall of 6 to 7 million ringgits. For now, OCM is discussing with two or three potential sponsors, including German camera film-maker Agfa, following Konica's withdrawal," Sieh was quoted by Bernama as saying.

"OCM, together with the Youth and Sports Ministry, is also negotiating with Panasonic," he told reporters after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between OCM and Spritzer as the official mineral water supplier for the games.

Youth and Sports Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein had said that the government was allocating 50 million ringgits for the Sept. 8 to Sept. 17 Games and the bulk of sponsorships would be used for medium and long-term sports development.

Sieh also expressed his disappointment with the SEA Games marketing agent, Dentsu, for failing to secure any sponsorship in Japan.

"They failed to get even one sponsor. It was a waste of time...I think they asked for too much from prospective sponsors in Japan," he said.

Japan-based Dentsu was the only agent appointed to seek overseas sponsors for the games.

Spritzer Director Mohd Adhan Kechik said Spritzer would supply 600,000 bottles of mineral water worth 750,000 ringgits during the sports championship, which will feature 32 sports and offer 391 gold medals. (yan)