“Last year’s London Paralympic Games has proven that para-events are not to be left out ... receiving great TV coverage and airtime and recording huge number of global audience."

The Asian Paralympic Committee (APC) is embarking on plans to develop a partnership with broadcasters in the region to help enhance television coverage for major Paralympic events in Asia.

Through collaboration with the Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU), the APC hopes to attract more public broadcasters and Free-to-Air (FTA) stations to be involved in Paralympic activities and sporting events in the region.

APC recently initiated engagement efforts with Asian broadcasters by participating in the 52nd Asia Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Sports Conference held in Bali, Indonesia last week.

Delegates representing more than 25 public and private broadcasting organisations as well as sports marketing agencies attended the conference which was organised by the Kuala Lumpur-based ABU.

APC’s delegation was headed by the IPCits president and IPC Governing Board Member Dato’ Zainal Abu Zarin, IPC Commercial and Marketing Director Alexis Schafer Secretary General, Malini, APC Para-Games chairman Jia Yong, APC Sports and Development Committee Chairman Billy Lee, APC Media and Communications head, Naseruddin Wahab.

APC received good response and feedback throughout the conference with various broadcasters keen to develop partnerships with the governing body in producing more Paralympic-related documentaries and enhance coverage on APC’s major Games such as the Asia Para-Games and the Asian Youth Para-Games.

Prominent broadcasters which attended the four-day Conference include CCTV of China, Korea’s KBS, NHK of Japan, IRIB of Iran, Media Corp (Singapore), Astro, TV3 and RTM of Malaysia, TVRI (Indonesia) and other Asian public broadcasters.

Zarin was convinced that the partnership would be fruitful in enhancing and sustaining more awareness and interests on the Paralympic sports and Games in the region.

“Last year’s London Paralympic Games has proven that para-events are not to be left out ... receiving great TV coverage and airtime and recording huge number of global audience," he said. "We believe that the same scenario can happen here in this region with the collaboration with ABU and Asian broadcasters.

The Asian Para-Games are held every four years, back-to-back with the Asian Games. Guangzhou, China, hosted the first Asian Para Games in 2010 while Incheon will host the next edition next year in Korea.

Apart from the Asian Para Games, APC’s other major Games include the Asia Open Winter Games, the Asian Youth Para-Games, regional Games and various individual championships.