Generally speaking,Beijing is confident of post-Games use of Olympic venues,” said Jiang Xiaoyu,CPPCC member and Executive Vice-President of Beijing Organising Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG) at the ongoing annual NPC and CPPCC sessions.
“The use of post Olympic venues is a common task.So far all 31 competition venues in Beijing have engaged recreational and social activities,” Jiang added.
“The Birds Nest is now planning for large-scale activities.However,due to the large space and a huge seating capacity to host 91,000 spectators,we need cooperation from relevant departments such as public transport as well as public security.I think the Birds Nest has made a good start and will have a brighter prospect.”
Jiang noted that the Birds Nest and Water Cube,located in the Olympic Part,are ideal tourism destinations.The tourist volume has far exceeded what they had expected and the number of visitors to the Olympic Park is much more than that in Beijing’s other hot tourism attractions.That includes the Palace Museum,during the National Day Golden Week last year and Spring Festival this February.
Asked whether the naming right of the “Birds Nest” will be auctioned,Jiang responded that it is still under study.
Jiang made it clear that BOCOG is now doing four tailing jobs of the Olympics:
Financial accounting and auditing; The National Audit Office has probed into the auditing of all Olympic-related projects,which started at the end of last year.Jiang said Beijing spent as much as Athens did on the Olympics.
“BOCOG will not lose money; Beijing has an original operating budget of 1.609 billion USD for the Games,and expects to earn 1.625 billion USD,with some 16 million USD in profit.But according to the preliminary settlement,the Beijing Olympics will make more profit,” Jiang said resolutely.
Jiang pointed out that the National Audit Office supervises all BOCOG’s financial records,and submits them to State Council and NPC for final approval before making it public.
Logistics management; There are millions of Olympic materials need to be donated and auctioned.Jiang said that some of the materials that have special meaning will be donated to society.Costumes and stage properties that were used during the opening and closing ceremonies of Beijing Olympics will be donated to museums.Additionally,another batch of materials that have special value will be auctioned.
He added that the current financial meltdown will not affect the auction process of Olympic materials.
Personnel placement; BOCOG had over 8,000 employees,and now 300 of them need help to find new employers.Jiang said that a dozen of BOCOG employers have joined Guangzhou Asian Games Organizing Committee (GAGOC).
Games summary; According to the contract with hosting cities,BOCOG will submit nine summary reports of some six million words to the IOC.All reports will be in Chinese and English,and some of them in French.
“All the tailing work will be finished by June this year,” added Jiang.