Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On November 18, 2016, a farewell ceremony was held for a group of trainees leaving Bolivia for China in order to learn about and gain experience with large-scale sports event organization. This training was one of the ways in which the Chinese government provided assistance to the Bolivian Ministry of Sports through the China-Bolivia Sports Cooperation Project – intended to provide support to Bolivia as they prepared to host the 2018 South American Games in Cochabamba. Per 玻利维亚运动员昆明接受, the Letters of Exchange, for what is now know to be the project's first phase, were signed in November 2015 and a Memorandum of Investigation of the project's feasibility was signed in December 2015. Following the completion "as scheduled" of the technical training described in this project, athletic training (see #72596), and the handover of a sports equipment grant (see #72767), a second phase was initiated in December 2016. This included further technical assistance with the opening and closing ceremonies (see #54794). The actual South American Games took place in 2018, with the opening ceremony on May 26 and ending June 10. It was hoped that Chinese assistance with the games, particularly given their experience with large-scale sports events, would help Bolivia expand their influence and strengthen Bolivian-Chinese sports cooperation.