Indonesia submits formal bid to host 2032 Olympics

JAKARTA, Feb 19 (AFP): Indonesia has submitted a bid to host the 2032 Olympics, officials said Tuesday, after the Southeast Asian nation's widely lauded handling of the Asian Games last summer.

Muliaman Hadad, Indonesia's ambassador to Switzerland, submitted a formal bid letter from President Joko Widodo to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne last week, the foreign ministry confirmed Tuesday.

"This is the right moment to show Indonesia's capability as a big country," Hadad said in a statement made public this week.

Widodo publicly expressed Indonesia's interest in hosting the 2032 event in the capital, Jakarta, during last year's Asian Games -- the world's second biggest multi-sport event behind the Olympics.

India has also expressed an interest in hosting the 2032 games while North and South Korea have said they might enter a joint bid.

The IOC will announce the 2032 host by 2025. If successful, Indonesia would be the fourth Asian Olympics host after Japan, South Korea and China.

The next Olympics will be in 2020 in Tokyo, while Paris will host it in 2024 and Los Angeles in 2028.