Official upbeat about city hosting IOC session
The Home Affairs Bureau is confident Hong Kong will win the bid to become the host city of the 123rd International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in 2011.
Janet Wong Chin-kiu, principal assistant secretary for home affairs, said yesterday the city had a great chance because of its experience hosting international events, such as the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation and the International Telecommunication Union's Telecom World 2006.
Hong Kong also had enough facilities to support the meeting and it had never been a host, she added.
The IOC holds a session each year to discuss the development of the Olympic movement. Hong Kong is already one of the seven or eight cities in the running but has yet to make a formal bid.
The government estimates it would cost HK$135 million to host the event and that it would attract 10,000 overseas visitors, generating spending of up to HK$110 million.
But Miss Wong said the spending figure was conservative and was expected to be higher.
Estimate details have been laid out in the paper to be discussed by legislators tomorrow.
Apart from the economic benefits of holding the gathering there would be intangible benefits, such as enhancing the city's reputation, Miss Wong said.
'We hope there won't be great deviation [from the HK$135 million budget], but one thing we have to note is the inflation rate,' she said.
Miss Wong also said the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee would look for sponsors.
She said the event, which would last about a week, was likely to be held in the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai. The second choice as a venue would be the AsiaWorld Expo Arena at Chek Lap Kok.
The government plans to seek approval of the estimated spending from the Finance Committee on February 22, in order to clear the way for the formal bid. The bid will be submitted by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee by February 28.
The IOC will announce the winner in August.
