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OCA President expresses his gratitude as new chapter opens

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Kuwait City, February 9, 2011: As President of the Olympic Council of Asia, within our Olympic Movement, I am so proud of the successful staging of the 16th Asian Games 2010 in Guangzhou, the 2nd Asian Beach Games 2010 in Muscat and the 7th Asian Winter Games 2011 in Astana and Almaty; the three most prestigious Games in Asia all held within the past four months.

I am very happy to see that most of the Asian counties have won a medal in our various Games, and therefore would like to thank all our 45 NOCs for showing their solidarity, unity and commitment to the Olympic Movement, and for supporting the OCA.

My deepest appreciation goes to H.E. Hu Jintao, President of the People's Republic of China, His Majesty Sultan Qaboos of the Sultanate of Oman and H.E. Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of the Republic of Kazakhstan, as well as to the Chinese Olympic Committee, Oman Olympic Committee, Kazakhstan Olympic Committee and the Guangdong provincial government for their successful hosting of our Asian Games, Asian Beach Games and Asian Winter Games.

All of them have shown Asia's great capability and expertise in organising first-class sports event at a world-level standard, and left many legacies not only for their own citizens but also for Asia and world sports development.

The concept of building Asian Games Town in Guangzhou was unique in the history of international multi-sports events, and it proved to be a great success. Al-Musannah Sports City is another wonderful legacy for the citizens of Oman, and will benefit many generations of athletes.

Kazakhstan also wrote its name in Asian sports history by becoming the first Central Asian country to host the Asian Winter Games in two different cities. They have state-of-the-art sports facilities of an international standard which will secure Kazakhstan's future success on the world stage.

The OCA is proud of the rich and diverse Asian culture presented to all five continents in the world, and Asia displayed its true beauty during the Games.

My special thanks also go to the volunteers in those three Games. They have truly shown the whole world the warm hospitality of the Asian people. And, of course, I thank the sponsors and the media for their support of the Asian sports movement, which is very much appreciated and another big contribution to our success.

From 2007 to 2011 I am happy to see that not only our own sporting culture has maintained its excellent progress, but also that OCA projects have developed significantly. We now have 35 OlympAsia projects from the past four years, and successfully hosted the 2nd Asian Indoor Games Macau 2007, the 1st Asian Beach Games Bali 2008, the 1st Asian Youth Games Singapore 2009, the 1st Asian Martial Arts Games Bangkok 2009, the 3rd Asian Indoor Games Hanoi 2009, the 16th Asian Games Guangzhou 2010, the 2nd Asian Beach Games Muscat 2010 and the 7th Asian Winter Games Astana-Almaty 2011.

The OCA now begins a new chapter in its history, and we must continue to improve Asian sport and take the Olympic Movement to a higher level.

The OCA will have new Executive Board elections at the General Assembly in Tokyo on July 14, 2011; the 3rd Asian Beach Games in Haiyang, China, in June 2012; the 2nd Asian Youth Games in Nanjing, China, in 2013; the 4th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Incheon, Korea, in 2013; the 4th Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand, in 2014; the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, Korea, in 2014; the 5th Asian Beach Games in Nha Trang, Vietnam, in 2016; the 8th Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan, in 2017; and the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan, in 2017.

This is a busy calendar and a big challenge for us, but I believe with our Olympic Solidarity and our OCA family spirit we will work together and overcome any obstacles to make our own Asian sports movement a better and bigger success.

Finally I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation to the OCA Executive Board members and our own OCA headquarters officials and staff who are working around the clock. Their dedication and diligence have made Asia the most dynamic continent in the global Olympic movement

Source - www.torontosun.com