Chief Secretary for Administration's statement on OCA's Decision on Host City for 2006 Asian Games

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Following is a statement given by the Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Anson Chan, at a press conference in Pusan, Korea after the Olympic Council of Asia's announcement on the host city for 2006 Asian Games today (November 12):

The Olympic Council of Asia's General Assembly today announced in Pusan that Doha, Qatar had won the right to host the 15th Asian Games in 2006 after the most hotly-contested bidding process in the Games' history.

Hong Kong is naturally disappointed. But we are not downhearted because we gave it our best shot in the true spirit of a hotly contested competition.

We offer our heartiest congratulations to the winning bid from Doha. We know how important these games are to the region and we will do what we can to help Doha ensure that the Games are a great success.

This was the first time Hong Kong has bid for an event of this magnitude and we have learnt a lot in the process. It allowed us to highlight our strengths as a sporting community before the eyes of our neighbours in the region and the rest of the world. The bid has also allowed Hong Kong to focus more closely on the importance of sport to the community. These are all positive lessons for us. The entire bidding process has been an invaluable experience on which we will be able to draw in any future bids we may make to host the Asian Games.

I want to stress that our bid did not falter for lack of effort or want of trying. I wish to pay a huge tribute to our Sports Federation and Olympic Committee led by Timothy Fok, to all members of the Bid Committee, to all the support staff, to the members of our community who so strongly supported our bid, to business and to the members of the government who have worked so tirelessly.

In the meantime, of course, we are looking forward to taking part in the 2002 Games in Pusan and the 2006 Games in Doha.

Ends/Sunday, November 12, 2000

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