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)