DUSHANBE, April 7, 2009, Asia-Plus  -- President of the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) Sheikh Fahad Al-Sabah, heading an OCA delegation, is arriving in Dushanbe today, according to Tajikistan’s National Olympic Committee (NOC).

Speaking in an interview with Asia-Plus, the NOC Vice-President Shirinjon Mamadsafoyev said that the purpose of a two-day visit was for the OCA delegation to get acquainted with development of the Olympic movement in Tajikistan and conduct negotiations with Tajik officials on further expansion of cooperation between the Olympic Council of Asia and Tajikistan, implementation of joint projects, as well as participation of Tajik athletes in the OCA events.

“On April 8, Sheikh Fahad Al-Sabah is scheduled to hold talks with Tajik leader also Tajikistan’s NOC President Emomali Rahmon,” said Mamadsafoyev, “The OCA president is expected to bestow the OCA highest decoration on Emomli Rahmon for his contribution to development of the Olympic movement.”

The Tajik side has developed a number of technical assistance projects that will be submitted for consideration to the OCA delegation, the NOC vice-president said.  “These projects mainly concern construction of sports facilities in Tajikistan,” Mamadsafoyev noted.

The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) is a governing body of sports in Asia, currently with 45 member national Olympic Committees.  The oldest NOC is from Japan, recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1912; whereas East Timor is the newest, joining in 2003.  The headquarters of OCA are located at Kuwait City.

The events of the OCA are Asian Games, Asian Indoor Games, Asian Winter Games, Asian Beach Games, and Asian Youth Games.