Bangkok Post

Prime Minister Hun Sen gave his blessing to the proposal from the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia, according to a report by The Phnom Penh Post.

The country's main sports body reckons 10 years should be long enough to achieve the organisational excellence to make the 2023 Games a success, the paper said in its report.

"Ten years may seem a faraway thought, but we need that time to be absolutely ready on all fronts, and the work has already begun," NOCC secretary- general Vath Chamroeun told the newspaper.

"Allowing a margin for inflation and cost escalation over the next 10 years, we are estimating the organisational cost at three to four million dollars. But creating the infrastructure and developing human resources will cost us a lot more."

The original SEA Games began as the Peninsular Southeast Asia Games in 1959, with five participating nations - Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Burma (now Myanmar) and Malaya (now Malaysia and Singapore).

Cambodia was supposed to host the 1963 Peninsular event, but had to drop out because of political instability and lack of money. It is the only country of the original five which has not hosted a Games.

If its bid is successful, the 2023 SEA Games would be the largest sports event ever held in Cambodia.