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Indonesia ready to take over 2019 Asian Games from Vietnam: minister

Indonesia ready to take over 2019 Asian Games from Vietnam: minister

Wednesday, April 23, 2014, 11:36 GMT+7

An Indonesian government minister has confirmed that his nation is ready to organize the 2019 Asian Games after Vietnam announced last week its withdrawal from hosting the quadrennial multi-sport event.

Indonesia has the will and funds for organizing the Games, according to Roy Suryo, Indonesia’s Minister of Youth and Sports Affairs.

He was quoted by AP News on Monday as saying that, “We have been waiting for this opportunity for decades and don’t want to wait for another decade. Indonesia is ready and there will be no problem with funds.”

He added that Surabaya, Indonesia’s second largest city, could be the host city of the competition.

However, Rita Subowo, chairwoman of the Indonesian Olympic Committee, raised her concerns for the cost and time for preparation.

“The government should realize that Surabaya will be ready to host the [Asian] Youth Games only in 2021, not in 2019,” Subowo was quoted by AP on Monday.

"We have to realize that budgeting to host such an event will be different by now,” Reuters quoted Subowo as saying in a talk via telephone.

She also noted that a new government to be elected later this year might have other decisions for hosting the Games.

A delegation of the Olympic Council of Asia will visit Indonesia next month to evaluate its capability to host the event, according to Subowo.

On April 17, Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung directed that sports ministry officials coordinate with other relevant ministries to work with the Olympic Council of Asia to back out as the host of the 2019 Asian Games.

In 2012 the council awarded Vietnam the right to organize the Games after the country beat Indonesia in a race.

The premier explained that the global financial crisis has affected the Vietnamese economy severely while the state budget is very limited so it has to be earmarked for other urgent socio-economic tasks, instead of being channeled into the organization of the Games. 

Vietnam estimated that hosting the Games would cost it around US$150 million but many experts and even government officials insisted that the real expense would be multiple times that amount. 

Tuoi Tre has learned that the Republic of Korea spent $2.9 billion on the 2002 Asian Games in Busan.

It cost Qatar a total of $2.8 billion for the Asian Games in Doha in 2006, and China almost $20 billion for the 2010 edition.

The Republic of Korea is planning a whopping $1.6 billion for the 2014 Asian Games, to be held in September in Incheon.

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