Hangzhou, China, December 15, 2019: The Honorary Life Vice President of the Olympic Council of Asia, Raja Randhir Singh, took part in the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the first official merchandise store of the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, on Sunday. Raja Randhir, who was accompanied by the OCA’s Director of International and NOC Relations, Vinod Tiwari, said the merchandise would be a good promotional tool for the next Asian Games. “It is very nice to see such an attractive shop in such a popular and historic area of Hangzhou,” said Raja Randhir, referring to the shop in Hefang Street. “Some 20 million people visit this tourist district every year so the location of the official merchandise shop will draw a lot of attention to the Asian Games in 2022. “Equally, the merchandise is very distinctive and will be a good souvenir, not only of Hangzhou but of the Asian Games.” The Vice Mayor of Hangzhou, Chen Weiqiang, and the Deputy Secretary General of organising committee HAGOC, Mao Genhong, were also in attendance at the inauguration ceremony, which attracted many onlookers on a sunny Sunday morning. Raja Randhir was given a tour of the store and viewed the attractive and colourful scarves, special issue postage stamps, coins, pens, pin badges, thermal cups, fans and Chinese jade seals. The OCA guests were in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang province in east China, for the 1,000 days countdown ceremony and launch of the slogan on Sunday evening in a ceremony to be attended by the President of the Chinese Olympic Committee, Gou Zhongwen. The OCA’s 19th Asian Games will run from September 10-25, 2022, with around 10,000 athletes in 40 sports.
