Interview: Hangzhou Asian Games to be most eco-friendly, smartest games: OCA

HANGZHOU, Sept. 21 (Xinhua) -- The Hangzhou Asian Games will be the most eco-friendly and smartest games that have ever been held, said Vinod Kumar Tiwari, acting director general of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA).

"The infrastructures and stadiums designed, are completely eco-friendly. We see almost all of the cars here are electric vehicles. This probably will be a pioneering thing for the next future Asian Games," Vinod Kumar Tiwari told Xinhua, adding that other countries can learn from the concepts introduced by the Hangzhou Asian Games.

The OCA's acting director general said he was also impressed by the convenience of the digital applications used at the Hangzhou Asiad.

"The most impressive thing is that nobody takes cash here, and they pay through mobile phones. The second one is the accreditation card. You just walk in and your photo comes out. You don't have to scan your barcode or anything," said Tiwari, adding that the Asian Games is not only about competition and sports, but also cultural exchanges.

"It is one of the most picturesque places that you can find in Hangzhou," Tiwari, who was also a torchbearer, said of Hanghzou's West Lake.

"When we started the Asian Games in 2006 in Qatar, nobody had heard of Doha, but now it is a sporting hub.

"These competitions make Hangzhou a vibrant city and bring it to the world. I'm sure that when we finish the games in Hangzhou, it will be a sporting hub not only in China, but in the whole of Asia," concluded Tiwari.