The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG)
and the Government of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) signed an
arrangement on equestrian competition of the 29th Olympic Games and 13th
Paralympic Games here Thursday.
The Beijing Organizing
Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) and the Government of
Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) signed an arrangement on
equestrian competition of the 29th Olympic Games and 13th Paralympic Games
August 31, 2006. [BOCOG]
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Liu Jingmin, vice mayor of Beijing and BOCOG
executive vice president, on behalf of BOCOG, and Dr Patrick C.P. HO, also
executive vice president of BOCOG Equestrian Committee (the Equestrian
Committee), on behalf of the Government of Hong Kong SAR, signed the
arrangement.
The ceremony was chaired by BOCOG Executive Vice President Wang Wei. BOCOG
Executive Vice President Jiang Xiaoyu also attended the ceremony.
The Hong Kong SAR has attached great importance to the organization and
staging of the equestrian events and designated its Home Affairs Bureau to take
charge of the preparatory work.
The preparations for the events are so far moving smoothly. The Hong Kong
Equestrian Venue located at Shatin is currently under construction, while the
venue at Beas River is undergoing early works for construction. The Olympic
sub-village in Hong Kong is being selected.
Local organizers have also made up the competition schedule of the events,
which are expected to start on Aug. 9 and ends on Aug. 20, 2008. Other works
related to the organization of the events, including selection of referees and
veterinarians, has also been defined.
The International Olympic Committee decided to move the equestrian events
from Beijing to Hong Kong, after talks between BOCOG and the International
Equestrian Federation in Singapore on July 8, 2005.
The arrangement was signed at a high-profile ceremony witnessed by a host of
senior officials, including Liu Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the
Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), secretary of the CPC
Beijing Municipal Committee and BOCOG president, Chen Zhili, state councilor and
BOCOG first vice president, Tung Chee Hwa, vice chairman of the Chinese People's
Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), Dr Patrick C.P. HO, secretary for the
Home Affairs Bureau of Hong Kong SAR, and Timothy Fok, president of the Sports
Federation and Olympic Committee of Hong Kong.
