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Cost of Youth Games goes up three-fold An extra $265 million needed to meet the cost will be borne by MCYS and Ministry of Finance SINGAPORE - The cost of organising the inaugural 2010 Youth Olympic Games has risen three-fold. With 38 days left to the opening ceremony at The Float@Marina Bay on Aug 14, it will now cost $387 million to stage the Games, up from its original estimate of $122 million during the Games' bid phase, before Singapore was named host by the International Olympic Committee in February 2008 after a keen tussle with Moscow. Despite the increase, both the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) and the Singapore Youth Olympic Games Organising Committee (Syogoc) said there was no cause for alarm. The extra $265 million required to meet the cost of organising the Games will be borne by the MCYS and Ministry of Finance. Syogoc has also raised more than $50 million in sponsorship, but MediaCorp understands the bulk of it is in kind. Speaking at a news conference yesterday, MCYS Permanent Secretary Niam Chiang Meng said: "The original bid was an estimate. There was no precedent or template ... When we made the bid, the figures were based on specifications not fully spelt out by the International Olympic Committee or by the international federations. "It was only very recently that the sporting events had their formats spelt out ... which is why many of these things can only be finalised so late." Technology accounted for the biggest spike - $97 million (see box). Added Mr Niam: "The estimate is not fixed, although it is likely to be lower than higher." The Youth Olympic Games, which run from Aug 14 to 26, will feature 201 events across 26 sports, with some 3,600 athletes from 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs) competing. About 20,000 volunteers will help run the Games, and about 370,000 spectators are expected to watch the two-week event. Apart from having top sporting facilities, there are other spin-offs. On the economic front, $260 million worth of tenders and contracts were awarded to local companies for the Games, and some $46 million to international companies with local subsidiaries, while conservative estimates from the Singapore Tourism Board expect tourism receipts to hit $57 million. In terms of international media value, the Games is expected to be worth $86 million - $11 million from print and online, and $75 million from broadcast, where some 1.5 billion viewers worldwide are expected to watch the Games. Already, nearly 2,000 international media networks are keen to broadcast the multi-sports events. Socially, an Olympic education programme will be introduced to 430 schools, while some 260 community-led events involving 135,000 people will be held. Said Mr Niam: "We're making history as the first hosts, but at the same time, we're also the first to have to iron out the kinks in the system