25th SEA Games, Laos

The athletes' accommodation for 25th SEA Games located at the compound of the national university of Laos is now 90% completed.
Mr. Kienkham Phutthachanthavong, director of the construction of athletes's dormintory reported that the construction has been conducted since January 2009 by the Hoang Anh Gia Lai Construction Company of Vietnam. The company loaned US$15 million to Lao government for constructing dormitory. This is interest-free loan for three years.
The dormitory is built on 42,000 square metres which consists of 1,000 rooms, a conference room, an information centre and others facility room. The building capacity enables to accommodate 4,000 athletes.
The construction is now 90% completed and the company is now working on the inside decoration, electrical systems installation, and gardening. The work is expected to be finished by the end of June this year.

Source: Vientianemai

Vientiane authorities are readying accommodation, food and tourism services for guests and athletes visiting Laos for the 25th SEA Games in December.

The capital will provide accommodation for about 4,000 athletes, and is making sure international-standard hotels and top end guesthouses are ready for visitors.

The Vientiane Tourism Department held a meeting at the National Culture Hall on Friday to discuss the preparations, as well as public security and public health.

The meeting was attended by Vice Vientiane Mayor and Vice President of the Lao SEA Games Organising Committee (LAOSOC), Mr Somvandy Nathavong, LAOSOC officials and staff from the department, hotels and guesthouses.

Mr Somvandy asked businesses to help in providing accommodation, food and tourism service during the games, which he said was a historical event for Laos .

He said Laos was satisfied its political stability would enable sound public security.

The Tourism Department has asked for more than 2 billion kip to redecorate and clean accommodations and provide food and tourism services.

Officials will check 12 hotels to make sure their standards are adequate. Hotels in five districts are still under construction but will be finished before the games. Officials will also inspect athletes' accommodation at the National University of Laos.

They will hold a meeting for businesses to respond to the call to support the SEA Games' effort and will continue checks of hotels and guesthouses for VIP guests, to be conducted by the Lao National Sports Committee and sports federation officials.

The Tourism Department will publish a Vientiane Tourism Guide Book and will hold two training courses for management staff in hotels, guesthouses and restaurants.

Hotels, guesthouses and restaurants in Vientiane will all be spruced up, with staff to wear traditional costumes to welcome guests and put Lao culture on display.

All sports venues, hotels, guesthouses, tourist facilities and other places will be tightly secured.

Public health officials will promote the need for cleanliness and hygiene and check the food provided by hotels, guesthouses, restaurants and markets in Vientiane for athletes and visitors.

Mr Somvandy said the games offered a good opportunity to develop human resources and businesses and for the Lao people to receive foreign guests.

He was confident the services offered would be up to international standards.

He advised business operators to take advantage of the event by putting up the price of rooms in hotels and guesthouses and raising meal prices.

The games represented the work of the Lao people and they should unite in hosting the event, he said.

The health unit would award certificates to restaurants if it could be determined they cooked clean food. Public health officials said they lacked money to buy some of the equipment they needed to carry out their work.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes

The 2009 Southeast Asian Games Village Project, which is under construction in the Lao capital of Vientiane, is now 45% completed.

Work on the 25th SEA Games athletes’ village, which is being built by Vietnam’s Hoang Anh Gia Lai Joint-Stock Company (HAGL), began on August 1, using almost 700 workers, 95% of whom are from Vietnam.

HAGL is sponsoring the US$19 million 25th SEA Games Village Project with $4 million in nonrefundable aid and an interest free loan of $15 million, which will be repaid within three years.



The project, which will be handed over to Laos’ National University after the sports event, will have 992 rooms in eight four-story blocks, a 1,200-seat dining room, a central hall and functional rooms. The site will also have football fields and basketball facilities.

The athletes' village is on a 42,000sqm site at the Dongdok campus, National University of Laos. The village comprises 10 buildings and other auxiliary facilities. Eight four-storey buildings with international standard facilities will contain 1,000 rooms and accommodate 4,000 athletes. A single-storey building will house a canteen and a three-storey building will contain multi-purpose management offices.

Photo: Standing Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad ( left ), who is also Chairman of the 2009 SEA Games Organising Committee, presents an invitation to the games to the head of the Vietnamese delegation to the SEAGF Council Meeting, Mr Nguyen Danh Thai. Mr Thai accepted the invitation on behalf of all Vietnamese competitors in the games.

Invitations to athletes and delegates to attend the 25th SEA Games in Vientiane next year have been given to all members of the Southeast Asian Games Federation (SEAGF).

The official invitations were handed over at a ceremony last week in Vientiane as Asean nations' sports heads attended the SEAGF Council Meeting from November 11 to 13

The invitations were presented by Standing Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad, who is also Chairman of the 25th SEA Games Organising Committee, and received by a representative from each country.

It is the custom for each SEA Games host nation to issue a formal invitation to inform each participating country the games will take place on the stated date.

Standing Deputy Prime Minister Somsavat Lengsavad expressed his thanks to all SEAGF members for their support for Laos in hosting the 25th SEA Games and said he looked forward to seeing athletes and delegates from each country attending the games.

During the presentation of the invitations, Mr Somsavat told SEAGF sports heads that construction of facilities for the games was going well.

The complex to be used for competitions and training for several sports events and for the opening and closing ceremonies will be complete by March 2009, while other facilities will also be finished on time. The 25th SEA Games will be ready for the opening date in December 2009.

Mr Somsavat congratulated SEAGF sports heads on the successful meeting of council members in Vientiane .



The SEA Games organising committee confirmed the main stadium, located at Km 16 in Dongsanghin village, Xaythany district, is currently 70 percent complete.

Construction of other facilities is nearing completion. The athletes' village is about 15 percent complete, but is expected to be finished by next August.




Photos: The athletes' village at National University of Laos.

The athletes' village is on a 42,000sqm site at the Dongdok campus, National University of Laos. The village comprises 10 buildings and other auxiliary facilities. Eight four-storey buildings with international standard facilities will contain 1,000 rooms and accommodate 4,000 athletes. A single-storey building will house a canteen and a three-storey building will contain multi-purpose management offices.

Vientianetimes

The Lao National Sports Committee is improving the old National Football Stadium in Vientiane in preparation for the 25 th SEA Games to be held in Laos next year.

The government is spending 14 billion kip on the work, which began in April and is set for completion by June next year. Group B football matches will take place at the stadium.

The grass will be reseeded and repairs will be made to the electrical system, seating, toilets and running track. New changing rooms will also be built.

The existing stadium has 6,000 seats, which is believed to be sufficient to accommodate spectators at the first round of the football tournament.

Athletics teams are currently training at the stadium in preparation for the 8 th National Games in Champassak province in December. The Lao Football Federation also holds Lao league football matches here.

It is expected there may be some disruption to these activities while the repairs are in progress.

The government is spending a further 20 billion kip to repair the 10,000-seat football stadium in Luang Prabang province, where the SEA Games' women's football tournament will take place.

“The SEA Games Council committee will survey the football stadiums in Vientiane and in Luang Prabang and Champassak provinces next year after repairs have been made,” the Chief of Facilities of the Lao sports committee's Construction Department, Mr Phaiboon Chanthamaly, said.

A new football stadium is being built in Champassak province and is set for completion by the end of this year. The stadium will be used for the National Games and also for some of the men's football matches in the SEA Games. The stadium, which it is located in Pakxe district, will have 15,000 seats.

The semi-final round of the SEA Games' men's football competition will take place at the new National Football Stadium at Km18 in Xaythany district, Vientiane . This stadium will also be used for the opening and closing ceremonies of the games.

The new stadium will have 25,000 seats. Construction work has already begun and the stadium will be finished next year.

By Sangkhomsay Bubphanouvong
Vientianetimes