PSC mulls RP bid for 2018 Asiad

GUANGZH­­OU, GUANDONG – Impressed by the economic potentials the Asian Games would bring to the city of Guangzhou, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Harry Angping yesterday said he would recommend to President Arroyo a proposal for Manila or any key city to host the 2018 Asiad.

“I am impressed by the infrastructure being made by the Guangzhou government to host the 2010 Asian Games. Its economic benefits to Guangzhou as an emerging major city of China are enormous,” Angping told local media during an interview during his visit to the Asian Games venues here yesterday.

The government is spending $2 billion on infrastructure, including repairs and renovations of existing facilities. Organizers said construction generates employment for thousands of workers and staff for four years until all the construction projects are ready by May 2010.

The Games will be held Nov. 12 to 27 next year in 43 venues for 42 competition events, the biggest ever in the Asian Games. Guangzhou will be the second Chinese city after Beijing to host the quadrennial meet.

Guangzhou is constructing an Asian Games Town, a 2.74 square kilometer facility which can accommodate 14,700 athletes and team officials, 10,000 media members, 2,000 technical officials and 18,000 support personnel.

The Main Media Center will be reconstructed after the Games and developed into a theme shopping mall, which will be a comprehensive business center in what will be called the Guangzhou New City.

The Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center, one of the major venues of the Games, will stage 18 sports on an area of 17.9 sq. kilometers where 10 universities are clustered together. After the Games, the venues will be converted into sports and cultural zones to be shared by all 10 universities. The HEMC demonstrates best use of land in the most economical way while promoting the development of education at all 10 campuses.

The HEMC’s main central stadium is a 40,000-seater football stadium which draws energy from the sun and is at the middle of a man-made forest.

Guangzhou, the major city of what is formerly called Canton province, is the fastest growing modern city in China and expects to use the Asian Games as a springboard for its modernization efforts.

“I will be seeking the help of (Arturo) Macapagal to talk to the President about the possibility of bidding for the 2018 Asian Games,” said Angping.

Angping was accompanied here by Macapagal, shooting president and elder brother of President Arroyo, PRISAA national chairman Gonzalo Duque and PSC executive assistant Paul Vegal.

The 2014 Asian Games will be held in Inchon, South Korea.