Indonesia withdraws bid to host 2002 Asiad
Indonesia withdraws bid to host 2002 Asiad
JAKARTA (JP): Concern for the success of programs to minimize poverty is the main reason behind Indonesia's decision to withdraw its bid to host the 2002 Asian Games.
Another reason is that Indonesia will hold its eighth general election in the same year.
"Those are the two main considerations why we finally decided to withdraw our bid," Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Hayono Isman told reporters after a meeting with President Soeharto at Merdeka Palace yesterday.
Hayono made it clear that Indonesia withdrew its bid because "we don't want to create a new problem".
With Jakarta's withdrawal, there are only two bidders now, South Korea's city of Pusan and Chinese Taipei's Khaoshiung.
However, if Indonesia opts to support the Khaoshiung bid, this may injure China's feelings. During Hayono's visit to China in November last year, China's sports minister Wu Shaozu reminded Indonesia of its one China policy and openly asked Indonesia not to support Khaoshiung's bid.
Wu earlier assured Hayono that China would back Indonesia's bid to host the 14th Asian Games.
Hayono said President Soeharto had asked him not to make any decision which could upset the harmony among the Asia-Pacific countries.
Jakarta has twice failed in its bids to host the Asian Games. In 1990, Jakarta's bid to host the 13th Asian Games in 1998 fell flat when it obtained fewer votes than Bangkok, which eventually won the bid.
Many sports circles in Indonesia have expressed their optimism that hosting the Asian Games would be an effective way for jacking up Indonesian's ranking in Asia because holding such a large-scale sports event would strongly motivate Indonesian athletes to do their best. At the latest Asian Games in Hiroshima last year, Indonesia finished 11th with three gold medals, 12 silver medals and 11 bronze medals.
The Olympics Council of Asia will hold a meeting in Seoul, South Korea, on May 23, to decide the winner of the bidding for the 2002 Asian Games.
During his meeting with Soeharto, Hayono also discussed the idea of introducing Tapornas, a 12-month savings scheme which offers a monthly prize of up to Rp 1.5 billion to compensate for its interest rate which is about 60 percent lower than the market rate.
Tapornas is scheduled to be applied next year and will capitalize on the nationwide networks of the state-owned Bank Rakyat Indonesia and the state postal agency, PT Pos Indonesia.
It has been devised to serve as a substitute for the widely disliked state lottery, SDSB, the major sources of funds for the National Sports Council. (arf)