All tickets to the opening ceremony of the World Games have been sold, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) said yesterday.
About 70 percent of the tickets to the closing ceremony of the sports event have been sold, Chen told a press conference in Taipei.
The city government said only 6 percent of the tickets to all World Games events had been sold as of May 6. Most ticket sales so far have been for the opening ceremony.
PHOTO: CNA
Meanwhile, Chen said the Kaohsiung Organizing Committee had secured sponsorship from 28 major enterprises in the form of funds or supplies.
The funds — offered by sponsors including China Steel Corp, Taipower, CPC Corp, Taiwan, Coca-Cola and Chunghwa Post — amount to NT$40 million (US$1.2 million), Chen said.
Other sponsors will provide supplies or discounts, such as bottled water and plane ticket discounts, to athletes participating in the games.
Chen said the sponsorship was an example of collaboration between the government and the private sector.
“This will be the first time Taiwan has held a large-scale international sports event involving more than 100 countries,” she said.
“It will be a very good opportunity to promote Taiwan and Kaohsiung and to demonstrate Taiwan’s soft power,” she said.
In related developments, Kaohsiung City Council Speaker Chuang Chi-wang (莊啟旺) urged the city government to have President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) announce the opening of the Games, despite a letter from the International World Games Association discouraging the idea.
The city government had already invited Ma to preside at the opening ceremony, but the Kaohsiung organizers received a letter on April 1 from the international association head, Ron Froehlich, saying that no head of state of any country had announced the opening of the Games since its founding in 1981.
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