"I appreciate South Sumatra for its initiative to bid for the host of the Asian Games. In my view, Indonesia has a great chance to host the Asian sports event," he said, after opening a quick chess tournament entitled, So Nice Ramadhan Cup 2014, at the Youth and Sports Ministry building here on Saturday.
South Sumatra has filed a bid with the OCA to host the once every four year sports event, after Vietnam and India dropped their bids.
Roy said Vietnam, which had been nominated as the host of the Asian Games 2018, dropped its nomination, while India was considering bidding for it.
"Vietnam has dropped its nomination. And I heard that India, which is also one of the nominees, is considering dropping its nomination," he said.
"Next week we, and a South Sumatra team, will fly to Kuwait to discuss Indonesias bid for the Asian Games 2018," he added.
Meanwhile, the Jakarta provincial government is reportedly interested in hosting the event. Acting Jakarta Governor Basuki Cahaya Purnama, who had originally been planned to fly to Kuwait, had cancelled his plan.
Suryo said it is the authority of the central government, rather than provincial governments, to decide on the venue of the Asian Games 2018. Therefore, when OCA officials visited Indonesia one month ago, he asked them to inspect the planned venue of the event in South Sumatra, Jakarta and other provinces.
"It is okay for the regional governments to nominate the venue of the event, because they feel confident. However, we should also know their capability," he said.
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2014
