During the five days of the Regional Forum, HAGOC set up an information desk. They not only provided a flow of policy responses in various business areas, but also held friendly talks with the National Olympic Committees of the participating countries (regions). 

What do they think of the overall preparations for the Hangzhou Asian Games? What are the New Year wishes for the upcoming 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou? Let's follow Yang Meng, special reporter for the Hangzhou Asian Games and the deputy Director of HAGOC Publicity Department, to listen to the dialogue at the scene.

Exclusive interview with Haitham Abdulhameed, Secretary General of the Iraq NOC

Haitham Abdulhameed, Secretary General of the Iraq NOC, has been involved in the preparation of three sporting events in China, namely, the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, the 2012 Haiyang Asian Beach Games and the 2014 Nanjing Youth Olympic Games. For all of these three big events, he was in charge of communicating with the Chinese staff. Currently our old friend said, "now I am happy to work for the fourth time because they are smart, professional and efficient. During the last year I worked with HAGOC, my compliment is that they are very smart in facilitating every process. The process of preparing everything is OK and the Organising Committee is helpful."

As a seasoned sports representative in the industry for more than 14 years, Mr. Haitham expressed his approval of the work of HAGOC and suggested accumulating more experience in organising the games. "As you are organising events, you need to find many other solutions to facilitate the process. You need to provide multiple options because one option might not be suitable for every NOC. Focusing on one option will put the NOCs in a bad situation. Providing more options will give you a good reputation and good experience in the future."

January 6,2023,the Gulf Cup in Iraq

The Iraq Olympic Committee is known to have been preparing for the Asian Games way in advance and actively building teams for sports such as basketball, weightlifting, karate and taekwondo. The National Olympic Committee will pay more attention to sports that are expected to win prizes, such as soccer, weightlifting, boxing, karate and taekwondo. 

Similarly, the Asian Games will serve as an excellent platform to promote communication and the exchange of sporting culture in the region. Haitham said that, "we are ready to do anything to support the organising committee in China. We are ready to collaborate with representatives from the organising committee to pull this event together. For other cultural events, we will be very happy to cooperate and offer any support once you inform us. We have official accounts on social media by which we could use to show a positive image of the process of the preparation for the Games."

"I love Chinese people, because I had a good experience there. I have travelled to China more than four or five times. The relationship between the Iraqi people and Chinese people is really good. We enjoy a high level of cooperation not only in sports but also through our governments. Last year we had a meeting with the Chinese ambassador in Iraq, and we explained to him that the Iraq NOC was ready to totally support HAGOC to hold a successful event in China. We respect China and the Chinese people, and we wish you all the best, good luck and a great success, " Mr. Haitham said.