A life changing event for people in Sri Lanka :

Success of Hambantota 2018 bid would inspire 45 nations – President tells Sports Breakfast hosted by Australian PM

By Dinesh WEERAWANSA reporting from Australia

Commonwealth Games: PERTH, Oct 29. - President Mahinda Rajapaksa said Sri Lanka’s success with its bid to host 2018 Commonwealth Games will not only be a live changing event for the people in his country but would also inspire 45 other nations which have never hosted Commonwealth Games.

Speaking at a Sports Breakfast hosted by Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard on the theme ‘Sports as a Unifier in the Commonwealth’ at the Golden Ballroom of the Pan Pacific Perth Hotel, the President said that Sri Lankans wants to mirror Malaysia, which hosted the Games in 1998 and witnessed massive economic expansion in the following years.

“Winning the bid would be a life-changing event in our history, since it would provide a great platform to support our high growth momentum. It will also allow our people to display the reconstruction, rehabilitation, and reconciliation that is taking place among the different communities of our country,” he said.

“Sri Lanka, has been pleased to prepare and submit a bid from our emerging city of Hambantota to host the Commonwealth Games in 2018. The preparation and promotion of the bid itself has been rewarding, and I believe, it has given us the confidence and self-esteem to aspire for even greater heights,” he said.

President Rajapaksa added that Sri Lanka strongly believes that the country’s hosting of the Commonwealth Games would also inspire 45 other nations, who have so far never hosted these Games, to come forward and bid to host future Games.

“These nations would certainly benefit by the massive economic opportunities that host nations derive from hosting Games of this magnitude and scale,” he said.

The President said that the Commonwealth Games provide a wonderful opportunity for emerging nations to showcase their own countries and strengths and to proudly take their place in the League of Nations. It also helps countries to undertake landmark infrastructure development.

President Rajapaksa assured the fullest support and backing of his Government to make Hambantota 2018 Games the most memorable one, if Sri Lanka gets the honour of hosting them.

“We, in Sri Lanka, accord high priority to sports and development of sports is included in the Mahinda Chinthana, the policy agenda of the government.

Further, my Government and the private sector have closely combined to produce new and exciting sports persons, who can compete with the best sports persons from the rest of the world,” he said.

He added that Sri Lanka has the capability and strength to provide all the necessary infrastructure needed for Games or any other sports event of this magnitude.

“When Sri Lanka hosted World Cup matches this year, we built two brand new cricket stadia and renovated another in just twelve months,” he explained Sri Lanka’s proven track record.

He added that similarly, Hambantota is being prepared to host the 2018 Games and the ground work has already been done to make it a sports city that would be coupled with tourism.

“While all the venues for many types of sports would be completed by 2015, accommodation for a large influx of tourists would also be in place by that time. In addition, a commercial harbour and an international airport, that would be fully functional by end 2012, are being constructed.

Our organisers have studied the positives and negatives of many international sports events and lessons learnt would be used to ensure that Hambantota offers a world class host city for the 2018 Commonwealth Games,” a confident President said.