PUTRAJAYA, Feb 2 — The 2020 Putrajaya Base Jump (PBJ), an extreme sporting event held in conjunction with Federal Territory Day, will become an annual event, said Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad.

He said this move was due to overwhelming response and participation of local and international base jumpers which had attracted a huge turnout.

"The 2020 PBJ has attracted many international participants compared to previous events which were organised in smaller scale involving only local participants.

"We will try to maintain it as another iconic programme by the Putrajaya Corporation (PPj) and if it is developed systematically, the event could potentially attract the international community to visit Putrajaya,” he said when officiating the 2020 PBJ here today.

Also present were Tourism, Arts and Culture Ministry (MOTAC) secretary-general Datuk Noor Zari Hamat and PPj president Datuk Aminuddin Hassim.

The event, which began yesterday, saw 34 professional jumpers from nine countries parachuting from the 40-storey building of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.

Apart from local participants, the event also saw participation of professional base jumpers from the United States, Canada, Australia, Estonia, Poland, the United Kingdom, Russia, Indonesia and Japan.

The event was organised in conjunction with the Federal Territory Day, the Putrajaya Silver Jubilee and the Visit Malaysia 2020 (VM2020).

Meanwhile, Noor Zari said to support the efforts of the PPj and to achieve the mission of the VM2020, MOTAC will include PBJ as one of the main events in the country’s tourism calendar.

In the meantime, Aminuddin viewed the intention of the Federal Territories Ministry to turn the PBJ as an iconic programme of Putrajaya or its annual event, is a recognition of the efforts made in promoting the federal government’s administrative centre.

He added that the promotional activities related to the PBJ to be intensified and thus far, 40 based jumpers had agreed to participate in the event next year. — Bernama