A record 28 sponsors have been secured by organisers of the 16th Asian Games, which takes place next year in Ghuangzhou, China.
Organising committee director Fang Da’er told a press conference that it is the biggest number of sponsorship deals in the event’s history, despite some sponsors having been lost due to the financial crisis.
Fang said the sponsorships secured to date are worth over 400 million yuan, about four times the amount collected by the committee behind the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar.
He said agreements had been signed with large multinationals and top domestic companies from the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and that “five to eight more agreements with big companies like China Southern Airlines” would be signed before June.
Fang said the Games are attracting interest from broadcasters from China, South Korea, Japan, Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Official licenses to produce products for the Games have been awarded to 23 companies, with 12 more signing agreements to merchandise the goods.
