By GWEN CHIPASULA –
THE Zambia Amateur Athletics Association’s (ZAAA) flagship, the Inter-Company Relay (ICR) was officially launched yesterday with K450,000 so far raised for the event set for next month.
More than 60 companies have also confirmed participation in various races.
During the launch yesterday, ZAAA also unveiled some of the sponsors who included Multichoice Zambia.
Multichoice chipped in with a sponsorship deal of K140,000, Zambian Breweries weighed in with  K120,000  and the Road Transport and Safety Agency pumped in K80,000.
Zambia Sugar ‘sweetened’ the 17th ICR  with K60,000 while  MKP Group and Bata Shoe Company donated K30,000 and K20,000, respectively.
Zambia State Insurance Corporation General Insurance has also contributed K16, 000 and pledged insurance cover for the whole event.
ZAAA set a budget of K1 million to stage the 2015 ICR .
Association president Elias Mpondela said ZAAA was happy with the support ICR had continued to receive.
Mpondela said ICR was one way ZAAA relied on for identifying talent among participants.
Sports Council of Zambia (SCZ),  acting general secretary, Innocent Chalabesa  paid tribute to ZAAA for the continued hard work towards hosting such events.
Chalabesa said SCZ was impressed with ZAAA because they organised events which easily attract a good number of big sponsors.
Former first lady, Christine Kaseba, who was guest of honour, urged more companies to come on board and support ZAAA because the event helped in promoting health awareness.