All hands on deck for 2008
 Updated: 2004-09-03 08:34

The market, the government and the public are all going to be called in some way to help prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, says an article in Beijing News. An excerpt follows:

It has been reported that a lot of officials have flown overseas for expensive study tours, citing the excuse of having to prepare for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

It wasn't so long ago that then Beijing Mayor Liu Qi stressed the importance of preparing for Beijing's Olympics economically - and these officials seem to be ignoring and flouting this very principle.

Cutting the costs of an already exorbitant Olympics and nailing corruption are vital, and something the market, government and every person could have a hand in.

All market rules must be stuck to in building and improving venues and facilities and setting up all the systems that go with it. Optimum resources need to be allocated to prepare for this extravaganza.

Every cent of enterprise cash must be spent cautiously to make it all worthwhile, and commercial operations must be carried out carefully and in a way that will not encourage corruption and waste.

The government needs to play a co-ordinating role, introducing bidding so that firms compete to win valuable contracts for the Games and at the same time, not interfering too much with how resources are allocated, or how commercial operations are carried out.

The government should provide services to companies, set up favourable policies for them and maintain fair market orders.

Rather than sending government officials abroad to learn how to prepare for the Olympics, employees of firms involved in the Games should go.

And above all, it needs to be done in a transparent way and under strict public supervision, as it is something that affects all Chinese.

(China Daily)

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