COST-CUTTING MEASURES
Faced with rising costs, the organisers have taken some unconventional steps to keep spending under control.
“We decided not to build a new athletes’ village and to use a cruise ship as accommodation,” said Ohmura.
“We created a (small) athletes’ village with mobile container homes. We built Mizuho stadium and Aichi Prefectural IG Arena, two new facilities. The rest are existing facilities,” he said.
“In total, we cut costs by 100 billion yen.”
He expects the economic benefits to be far greater.
“The whole nation will benefit with an income of 3.7 trillion yen. Aichi alone will make 1.8 trillion yen,” he said.
The Asian Games and the Asian Para Games will altogether draw about 20,000 athletes and delegation members, according to the governor.
Organisers are also expecting an influx of fans and other visitors.
