- Published: 4 Mar 2013
- Bangkok Post
PHNOM PENH - The government on Monday approved a
proposal to bid to host the 2023 SEA Games, 60 years after it was
supposed to hold the Southeast Asian sports spectacle.
Prime Minister Hun Sen gave his blessing to the proposal from the
National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, according to a report by The Phnom Penh Post.
The country's main sports body reckons 10 years should be long enough
to achieve the organisational excellence to make the 2023 Games a
success, the paper said in its report.
"Ten years may seem a faraway thought, but we need that time to be
absolutely ready on all fronts, and the work has already begun," NOCC
secretary- general Vath Chamroeun told the newspaper.
"Allowing a margin for inflation and cost escalation over the next 10
years, we are estimating the organisational cost at three to four
million dollars. But creating the infrastructure and developing human
resources will cost us a lot more."
The original SEA Games began as the Peninsular Southeast Asia Games
in 1959, with five participating nations - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia,
Burma (now Myanmar) and Malaya (now Malaysia and Singapore).
Cambodia was supposed to host the 1963 Peninsular event, but had to
drop out because of political instability and lack of money. It is the
only country of the original five which has not hosted a Games.
If its bid is successful, the 2023 SEA Games would be the largest sports event ever held in Cambodia.
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Cambodia to host SEA Games in 2023: PM
| Xinhua | 4 March 2013 By Agencies |
Cambodian
Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that the country will host the
Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) for the first time in 2023.
"Upon the request of President of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia Thong Khon, I agreed to allow Cambodia to host the SEA Games in 2023," the premier publicly announced during a graduation ceremony of students at the National Institute of Education.
"It takes another 10 years for Cambodia to host the Games because, for the time-being, Cambodia needs capital to invest and serve the needs of people such as constructing roads, bridges, irrigation system, schools and hospitals," he said.
He said the big concern for hosting the SEA Games is not the sports facilities, but accommodation for about 7,000 athletes.
"As I know, Laos spent between 200 and 300 million US dollars to host this event (in 2009), so Cambodia needs time to host such event because it costs a lot of money," Hun Sen said. "We have no choice, we don't have money."
The original SEA Games began as the Peninsular Southeast Asia Games in 1959. It is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the ten ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste.
The last games were held in Indonesia in November 2011, and the next host will be Myanmar this year, while Singapore will be the host in 2015.
"Upon the request of President of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia Thong Khon, I agreed to allow Cambodia to host the SEA Games in 2023," the premier publicly announced during a graduation ceremony of students at the National Institute of Education.
"It takes another 10 years for Cambodia to host the Games because, for the time-being, Cambodia needs capital to invest and serve the needs of people such as constructing roads, bridges, irrigation system, schools and hospitals," he said.
He said the big concern for hosting the SEA Games is not the sports facilities, but accommodation for about 7,000 athletes.
"As I know, Laos spent between 200 and 300 million US dollars to host this event (in 2009), so Cambodia needs time to host such event because it costs a lot of money," Hun Sen said. "We have no choice, we don't have money."
The original SEA Games began as the Peninsular Southeast Asia Games in 1959. It is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the ten ASEAN member states and Timor-Leste.
The last games were held in Indonesia in November 2011, and the next host will be Myanmar this year, while Singapore will be the host in 2015.
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