PH, Taiwan hold APEC Sports Policy Network Workshop

The Philippine Sports Commission together with the Sports Administration (SA) and the Ministry of Education (Republic of China, Taiwan) jointly held the 2019 APEC Workshop on International Sports Events and Local Economic Development yesterday in Manila.

There were 15 representatives from industry, government and academia of 9 APEC economies invited to come together in Manila to discuss the effects of international sports events on local economic development.

PSC Commissioner Ramon Fernandez welcomed the delegates in his speech at the opening ceremony and underscored the importance of the UNESCO-cited Children’s Games in various coastal island the country “to promote sports, tourism, community resource and ecosystem management.”

SA Director-General Kao Chin-Hsung said that the APEC Sports Policy Network (ASPN) initiated and launched by the SA in 2016, holds 2 international meetings and issues 3 APEC Sports Newsletters each year, forming a shared platform for policy exchange and information sharing for sports-related industries, governments and academia in APEC economies, and it has won a high level of affirmation and is regarded with great importance.

“We would like to express our gratitude to the Philippine Sports Commission’s collaboration for this workshop. This project will truly enable the participants to obtain and share information on the policies and integrating sports events and tourism,” added Director-General Kao.

With the holding of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games at the end of this year, the event did not only seek to understand the related planning measures by the organizing committee and the PSC, senior officials from Japan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Taiwan also attended the Sports Policy Dialogue session at which how each economy drive and invigorate economic development through holding sports events was discussed.

Moreover, Krzysztof Kropielnicki, Head of Sportcal Events, gave a keynote speech on the assessment of sports events impact. In the afternoon session, Dr. Huang Ching-Yao (Hank), Director of Center of Industry Accelerator and Patent Strategy (IAPS), National Chiao Tung University; Mr. Rene Meily, President of QBO Innovation Hub in the Philippines; and Ms. Joan Norton, Manager of ilab UQ Accelerator shared sports innovation experience in Taiwan, the Philippines and Australia.

Furthermore, in line with APEC’s 2019 slogan “Connecting people, building the future,” they also discussed the impact of the digital economy in the field of sports innovation.

Last year, facilitated by ASPN, IAPS and the leading promoter of global sport innovation, HYPE Sports Innovation (HYPE) signed a contract to establish SPIN Accelerator TAIWAN, HYPE’s first sports innovation accelerator in Asia.
For the first time in ASPN meeting, 3 innovation teams selected from the SPIN Accelerator TAIWAN training program in March this year, namely, REMA, Fuelstation Inc. and Velodash Inc., and innovation teams from the Philippines, presented their results, linking to the international sports innovation network. Nevertheless, the event added interaction and fun through situational simulation, where attendees were given an experience of what it’s like to invest in sports startups and products.

With the support of various APEC economies, today’s workshop came to a successful conclusion. ASPN members will visit the Philippine Sports Commission, the 2019 Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee and the National Sports Training Center of the Philippines tomorrow.

There will also be a friendly korfball match between National Taipei University of Education and the University of Santo Tomas at PhilSports Complex in Pasig. The suggestions and exchanged information of this event will be featured in the 8th APEC Sports Newsletter due to be issued in this August.