Indonesia will offer Surabaya as the host of the 2019 Asian Games at the bidding in Kuwait.Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is ready to compete with Malaysia, Vietnam, Hong Kong and Dubai to host the 2019 Asian Games, a ministry official said here on Thursday.
"Indonesia will offer Surabaya as the host of the 2019 Asian Games at the bidding in Kuwait," sports minister`s fourth deputy Djoko Pekik told the press.
Bidding applications are expected to be submitted for the Asian Games in September this year in Kuwait.
Djoko said the competition will be tight, as 57 countries are going to participate in the bidding.
"We have invited East Java to showcase their venues and, in principle, we have sent a form to be filled in by East Java for the bidding in Kuwait," he said.
Before bidding, the sports ministry will set up a team to prepare for the showcasing in Kuwait. The team will be formed based on the principle of winning the bid.
"The team will be formed to package what we could sell at the bid in Kuwait," he added.
When asked why Surabaya, the capital of the East Java province, has been chosen, Pekik said that at the SEA Games in 2011 athletes from East Java had won the largest number of medals.
"East Java athletes contributed over 50 medals in the 2011 SEA Games. That is quite an achievement and enough to be used as a reason for choosing Surabaya to host the Games," he noted.
On why Indonesia is targeting the 2019 Asian Games, Pekik said that Indonesia first wished to host the games in 2023 but, as there is an opportunity to do it earlier, the 2019 Asian Games have been targeted.
"We first wished to host the 2023 Games, but since an opportunity is available due to a shift in several international events, we decided to bid for the 2019 Asian Games," he said.
(A020)
Editor: Ella Syafputri
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