The National Olympic Committee of Cambodia has made a budget projection of $600,000 for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the second National Games, to be held from May 25 to June 5, marking a sizeable increase in the amount spent on the inaugural games in 2016 of $400,000.
The biggest multi-discipline event the Kingdom has staged over the past few decades, to be used as preparation for the Kingdom’s hosting of the 2023 Southest Asian Games, has been expanded to 27 Olympic and non-Olympic categories across 282 events.
The NOCC is solely responsible for organising the Opening and Closing Ceremonies, with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport running the competitions in coordination with the participating federations and other agencies.
The Opening on May 25 and the Closing at the National Sports Complex, commonly known as Olympic Stadium, will be the most spectacular the Kingdom has ever seen, with technology driven innovations such as laser beam shows, impressive fireworks displays and innovations in even the lighting of the Games cauldron adding to its grandeur, according to the secretary-general of the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, Vath Chamroeun.
While Cambodia Beverages have stepped in as Premium sponsors, Smart Axiata and the National Lottery have taken up Gold partnerships. Two more major sponsors are likely to join the pool.
“We are organising these ceremonies on a very grand scale. There are budgetary constraints and the 2023 Cambodian SEA Games Organizing Committee [Camsoc], which is fully supporting these Games, have requested additional financial assistance from the Royal Government aside from these private sponsorships,” said Chamroeun, who is also the secretary-general and CEO of Camsoc.
The cost escalation has been attributed to the introduction of several high-tech performances during the show, which is to include cultural performances, acrobatics and demonstration sports like taekwondo and bokator.
The total number of performers is expected to be in the region of 5,000.
The Games torch will be lit by King Sihamoni at the Royal Palace and carried in relay a short distance away to the main stadium, where Prime Minister Hun Sen is to light the cauldron by remote control with the press of a button, which will then set off five specially made fire arrows that will light the flame.
This is the first time that technology as advanced as this has been used at an event in the Kingdom.
NOCC top brass recently had meetings with technical experts from Malaysia (the hosts of the 2017 SEA Games) and China to seek their advice and help regarding a high tech laser show, special sound and light effects, and a fireworks display at the end of the Games.
According to the NOCC, the fireworks planned will be the biggest and most spectacular ever seen in the Kingdom.
