Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has agreed that Vietnam will host the 31st Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games 31), followed by the 11th ASEAN Para Games (Para Games 11) in 2021, the Government Portal reported.

Illustrative photo: Zing.vn

As many as 11 countries in the Southeast Asian region are expected to attend the two sporting events, the largest of their kinds in the region.

The SEA Games 31 is projected to feature 36 sports, of which the number of sports included in the official competition programs of Olympic and Asiad makes up two-thirds of the total. The regional countries can propose additional sports according to the regulation.

Meanwhile, the Para Games 11 will consist of 14 sports proposed by the Vietnam Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The SEA Games 31 is slated to transpire in Hanoi and surrounding localities at the end of November and the beginning of December in 2021 whilst the schedule for Para Games 11 is December 2021.

The Ministry of Planning and Investment is requested to jointly work with the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to plan on repairing and upgrading some sporting constructions under the management of the ministry ahead of the completion.

The Hanoi People's Committee will take responsibility for building plans for the opening, closing ceremonies of the two sporting events and relevant sideline activities.

Funding for both events will come from the State budget, fees of the participating delegations, and various sponsors.

This is the second SEA Games hosting of Vietnam. The country hosted the 22nd SEA Games in 2003 at the My Dinh National Stadium.