He also assured that his ministry is always ready to cooperate and help ensure the success of international events throughout the state, by requesting for more flights into the state.

He said this during the Sarawak Spartan Race 2023 prize giving ceremony at Curtin University Malaysia Campus in Senadin today, participated by over 2,000 people from all over the world.

Lee said dates for international sporting events such as the Sarawak Spartan Race should be confirmed the latest one year in advance for participants to prepare and plan, especially in terms of transportation and accommodation.

“Therefore, I want the organisers to set the date, a year in advance (for next year’s events) as this will allow adequate preparation time, especially for participants from abroad.

“Meanwhile, the ministry is willing to help get more flights into the state, Miri in particular so that we can bring in more participants (from abroad),” he added.

Lee assured that his ministry can help to negotiate with airlines such as Scoot (from Singapore), AirAsia, Firefly and others to provide additional flights ahead of the event date.

Touching on Sarawak Spartan Race 2023 which was held in Miri for the first time, Lee encouraged similar events to be held to attract international participants and suggested the events be held annually.

Later on, Lee presented prizes to the Sarawak Spartan Race winners of the Elite Male and Elite Female categories.

Callum Sean from Malaysia won the Elite Male category with Saddam Pittli (Malaysia) in second place and Ian Deeth (Singapore) third.