Indonesia bids for 2032 Olympics despite huge infrastructure challenges

After the much-praised success of the 2018 Asian Games, Indonesia has submitted its bid to host the 2032 Olympics.

The winning candidate will be selected by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 2025.

Tokyo shall be hosting the 2020 Summer Olympics while Paris, France shall host the 2024 Games and Los Angeles, USA in 2028.

Japan, China, and South Korea are the only Asian countries to host the Olympics so far.

Cities that hope to host the Olympic games are screened by a rigorous IOC candidature process.

The process includes developing strategic concepts and legacy plans, determining whether the city has the necessary legal and financial mechanisms to host, and ensuring the sustainability of the games operations for all stakeholders.

In September 2018, President Widodo already expressed an interest in hosting the 2032 Olympics.

While the 2018 Asian Games has been successful, Indonesia’s preparations for the international athletic competition were far from flawless.

Vietnam backed out of hosting the 2018 Asian Games citing the financial toll such a large-scale international event would take on their economy. Indonesia then had less time to construct venues and prepare Jakarta for the arrival of 11,000 athletes and 5,000 officials from 45 Asian countries.

Being the most densely populated country in Southeast Asia, Indonesia is notorious for its gridlocked traffic conditions.

The country has also often dealt with security issues such as the threat of terrorism.

Ahead of the April 2019 elections, Widodo has been criticised for the government’s “inefficient” infrastructure spending.

The Palembang Light Rail Transit is one such project that received much uproar for being mere “monuments.” Service is slow and inefficient which discourages people from using the trains.