Indonesia Ponders 2032 Bid Change

(ATR) Indonesia’s bid to host the 2032 Olympics could be centered on a city that isn’t built yet.

Plans were unveiled in August to create a new capital on the island of Borneo to replace Jakarta. The new city, which is expected to cost $34 billion, would be built on higher ground to limit flood risk and be designed for up to seven million people.

According to Reuters, the government is evaluating how to make the unnamed new capital its candidate city for the 2032 Olympics, replacing Jakarta.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is in early talks with SoftBank chief executive Masayoshi Son and other investors to garner support for an Olympic project, Reuters reports.

Indonesia submitted its formal 2032 bid letter to IOC President Thomas Bach in February 2019.

Widodo had told Bach in a meeting on Sept. 1, 2018 in Jakarta that Indonesia was ready for the Olympics. Jakarta and Palembang hosted the 18th Asian Games from Aug. 18 to Sept. 2, 2018.

The IOC, which has been pushing for cost reduction, use of existing facilities and sustainability under its new bidding process, would likely have plenty of questions about a bid that would have to be built almost from scratch.

So far the field of potential contenders for 2032 also includes Queensland in Australia, Germany, India, China and a unified bid from South and North Korea.

The IOC has yet to establish a timetable for considering 2032 bids. In the past the IOC would choose a 2032 city seven years ahead. The 2030 Winter Olympics are next on the agenda to be selected by the IOC, perhaps within the next year given the new process the IOC is following.

The consultative process is meant to replace the expensive head-to-head international campaigns of past bids. The IOC is also aiming to avoid the collapse of bids, particularly winter bids, due to the lack of public support.

Written by Gerard Farek

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