Laos officially invites teams to SEA Games 2009

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.

Travellers discovered gigantic river cave in Laos !

A cave explorer stands before an imposing stalagmitemade of mineral depositsnear an entrance to the Xe Bang Fai River cave in central Laos. An expedition in February 2008, co-led by veteran caver John Pollack, comprehensively mapped and photographed the 5.9-mile (9.5-kilometer) length of the little-known cavern for the first time. The spelunking team encountered some of the largest rooms and most impressive structures of any river cave on Earth, Pollack said.A river cave is any cave with an active water source flowing through it.Everything about the cave is bigfrom its towering entrances to its phobia-inducing spiders, which can be 10 inches (25 centimeters) across, Pollack added."It's also extremely well decorated with spectacular formations," Pollack said.

FIVB holds successful coaches’ course in Laos

The FIVB International Coaching Course in Laos was a great success !Lausanne, October 16, 2008 – A successful FIVB International Coaching Course has recently been completed in Laos. FIVB sent two instructors, Course Director Peter Nonnenbroich of Germany and Thai Jakusuwan Tocharoen of the Thailand Development Centre, to work on the course that ran through October 1-13. The course attracted strong interest from up and coming coaches in Laos. The coaches received valuable lessons on how to instruct players and how to form a team. The Laos Volleyball Federation is working very hard to restructure its operations and the FIVB hopes the Federation will benefit from running more courses in the future.

Lao companies needed to produce SEA Games 2009 merchandise

Local companies are being sought to produce merchandise for sale during the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to be held in Laos next year. Companies wanting to produce merchandise branded with the SEA Games logos must first seek permission from Phetchampa Advertising Company, otherwise they will be in breach of copyright. Eight foreign companies have already been granted these rights, but no Lao companies have expressed an interest in using the official SEA Games' logos. Phetchampa Advertising is contracted by the government to organise sponsorship and marketing for the SEA Games and they can license companies to use the logos for a fee. Company Director, Mr Khammoui Keomany, said the company was outsourcing the production of merchandise so it did not have to be involved in manufacturing or distribution. Local companies had proposed manufacturing goods and selling them to Phetchampa Advertising for distribution, but the company is not interested in this. “Granting permission for companies to use the logos, for a small fee, allows the event to generate income without us having to become involved in the production process,” he said. “It is the responsibility of the company rather than the committee for any issues with product quality. We are not responsible for controlling the scale of production, so if the companies have surplus merchandise after the event it will not have any effect on our company.” Those who have registered have enough experience to evaluate the market and how much merchandise they can sell, he said. Mr Khammoui is also a member of the SEA Games Organising Committee. He said the fee for companies to use the logo was not too high and was not deterring local businesses. Instead, he attributed their lack of interest to insufficient marketing experience. “We are working hard to convince local and foreign businessmen and companies to be sponsors, in order to promote the SEA Games to the outside world,” he said. Mr Khammoui said there would be a large market for SEA Games merchandise because local people, tourists and athletes from the 10 participating countries would be interested in buying souvenirs at the event. Businesses which have already been granted rights to use the logos include companies from Malaysia , Singapore and Thailand. By Phonesavanh Sangsomboun Vientianetimes