Indonesia to start Asiad bidding drive in Brunei

Indonesia to start Asiad bidding drive in Brunei

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will begin its campaign to host the
2006 Asian Games in Brunei Darussalam next month during the 20th
Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

National Sports Council (KONI) deputy of media and promotion
Ahmed Solichin announced on Thursday that KONI would host a
cocktail party on Aug. 6 in Bandar Seri Begawan in Brunei. The
party is expected to be attended by the National Olympic
Committee presidents from the 10 countries participating in the
SEA Games, as well as officials from the countries' sports
federations.

"We will also set up a counter which will hold all the
information on Indonesia's bid for the Asiad. Two Miss Jakartas
will serve as guides to give information to all the visitors to
the counter," Ahmed said.

Indonesia aims to host the 2006 Asiad as part of its ambitious
Golden Garuda megaproject, which has as its goals moving
Indonesia into sixth position in the Asiad as well as hosting the
event.

Last year, KONI learned from its participation in the 1998
Asiad in Bangkok, where the hosts finished in the sixth overall
position while Indonesia was in 10th place.

President B.J. Habibie has thrown his weight behind efforts to
land the Asiad and KONI has set up a team, chaired by Indra
Kartasasmita, to lead the effort. The team consists of top KONI
officials, sports organization officials, sports experts, top
officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Jakarta
City administration.

The House of Representatives Commission VII for education,
culture, religion, youth affairs and sports has also supported
the bid.

KONI chose the National Monument (Monas) and the orangutan as
the symbols for its bid.

"We picked Monas because Jakarta is a candidate city for the
Asiad. Monas will be surrounded by five circles of different
colors symbolizing the five Olympic rings. We chose the orangutan
as the mascot because it looks funny, friendly and marketable,"
he said.

Malaysia used the orangutan as its mascot during the 1998
Commonwealth Games.

Ahmed said KONI would campaign at several different events as
part of its efforts to land the 2006 Asiad.

First, it will campaign during the SEA Games. Then it will
campaign at the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) meeting in Kuwait
in November. Indonesia will also bid to host the OCA secretary-
general meeting and council meeting in 2000 in Bali as part of
its Asiad campaign.

OCA representatives will vote on who will host the 2006 Asiad
during its 2000 council meeting.

Earlier, KONI secretary-general Rudolf S. Warouw said KONI had
provided Rp 4 billion (US$597,000) to lobby members of the OCA.

For its campaign activities in Brunei, KONI spent about Rp 300
million.

So far, Qatar, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and Hong Kong have
registered to bid for the Asiad. Only Malaysia and Hong Kong have
begun to actively campaign. The United Arab Emirates withdrew
from the bidding. (yan)