00:00Manchester United is making a historic return to Malaysia, and the impact goes far beyond
00:08football.
00:09The Red Devils will face off against an ASEAN All-Stars side at the Bukit Jalil National
00:14Stadium on May 28, marking the club's first appearance in Malaysia in 16 years.
00:20Pro Events Chief Executive Julian Kam says the event could inject millions of ringgit
00:26into the local economy.
00:27I think the project itself is different because it's after Covid and so many years that we
00:33don't have any events, major football events in Malaysia.
00:37So this is why two years ago we started working on this.
00:42We want to bring something big to Malaysia.
00:48Pro Events is investing approximately US$10 million to organise the match, with estimated
00:55spillover benefits running into the hundreds of millions from spending on hotels, transport,
01:02merchandise and more.
01:04So far, over 55,000 tickets have been sold, with strong demand from regional markets.
01:10We got bulk purchase from India, really big bulk from Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.
01:19So we are hoping that when a team is here, then people will know the full first team squad
01:27actually here.
01:29Kam says Malaysia once led the region in sports tourism, but has fallen behind in recent years.
01:35Because Malaysia has been doing this heavily in the 90s and early 2000s,
01:45Malaysia has been always the hub for major sporting events.
01:50So we had Chelsea, Arsenal, Spurs, Manchester United, all came.
01:57So this is why other countries are actually following.
02:02And they became very, very aggressive, very, very aggressively.
02:07So competition is high?
02:08Yeah, it is.
02:09And then we learned about the ASEAN summit.
02:12So I think it's a good alignment with the government that we bring in the ASEAN all-stars,
02:21to go in line with the country's initiative.
02:26So this is how we came about.
02:29Manchester United's Asia tour includes just two matches,
02:33in Kuala Lumpur on May 28th and Hong Kong on May 30th,
02:38shortly after their final Premier League game on May 25th.
02:41For Kam, this is more than a business venture, it's personal.
02:45It's been 30 years since my first match, since I organised my first match here in Malaysia.
02:52That was against Sri Lanka.
02:54And it is emotional to me because really the heart and effort that I put in for this match,
03:08a lot of people told me to give up, don't do it.
03:12Yes.
03:13But I said, you know, look, I live here.
03:17I live here since the year 2000.
03:19I'm more Malaysian than you think I am.
03:22I really, I really want to bring a good event to Malaysia,
03:28to help Malaysia to, you know, get some exclusivity events to Malaysia.
03:33Come on!
03:35Come on!
03:36Come on!
03:37Come on!
03:38Come support.
03:39Come support Manchester United.
03:41Yes, you met it, Yeah.
03:42Listen, you met it.
03:43Yes.
03:44I do understand what the countries do but where the biggest part is from
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