The Hong Kong government will support the Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China, in its bid for the 2023 Asian Games while the budget for direct cost will be 6 billion HKD (about 0.77 billion USD), the authority said on Tuesday (Dec 14).
Tsang Tak-sing, Secretary for Home Affairs of the Hong Kong SAR (Special Administrative Region) government, said the Government will work to garner support from the Legislative Council Finance Committee to inject the direct cost of hosting the games.
"We are confident Hong Kong has the ability and financial credibility (for hosting the games)," he said, adding a lot of input supporting the bid was received during the public consultation.
He said the decision came after thorough consideration of various opinions. The Government believes bidding for the games will be beneficial to Hong Kong's long-term development. It will create a home advantage for Hong Kong's athletes, and will promote the Olympic spirit, as well create a better quality of life for the next generation.
He said most of the concerns raised during a public consultation on the bid can be addressed, adding the Government can afford the 6 billion HKD bill. The expenditure will not affect the Government's resources on other aspects regarding people's livelihood and social welfare. The sporting facilities to be constructed for the games will also be open to the public.
The original budget announced by the Government in September was a total of 44 billion HKD, among which 13.7-14.5 billion HKD would be direct cost. However, the Government decided to cut over half of the direct budget in early November in order to gather more public support.
According to the public consultation report delivered by the Government at the end of the 10-week public consultation on Dec. 1, opinions in favor of the bid saw a notable increase after the announcement of the new budget. The report said among the citizens who submitted their opinions, 68.8 percent support the bid while 29.6 percent oppose.
An survey done by the Chinese University of Hong Kong showed that people who support the bid are almost as many as those who oppose, but supporting opinions were going up pending the end of the consultation.
According to the Olympic Council of Asia, a formal bid for 2019 or 2023 Asian Games should be handed in before Feb. 15, 2011.
