Olympic Council of Asia and Tencent Reach Strategic Cooperation for Esports Development

　　The Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) and the Asian Electronic Sports Federation(AESA) held Asian Electronic Sports Development Conference and MOU Signing Ceremony on January 20, 2022. The event, themed "Blooming in Asia", aims to promote the development of the esports industry in Asia.

　　OCA Director General Husain A H Z AI-Musallam, AESF President Kenneth Fok, Tencent Senior Vice President Steven Ma, AESF Director General Sebastian Lau, AESF COO Steve Kim and Tencent Games Vice President and Tencent E-Sports General Manager Mars Hou attended the online meeting.

　　Asian Electronic Sports Development Conference and MOU Signing Ceremony

　　Guests had an in-depth exchange of views on topics such as "the future development of sports and esports in Asia" and "promoting the development of sports in Asia.” They also announced the strategic cooperation between OCA and Tencent, and between AESF and Tencent E-sports, as well as plans for the Road to Asian Games(RDAG).

　　Husain, Director General of OCA said, the organization is delighted to establish strategic cooperation with Tencent. He expressed the hope that Tencent's technology and innovation would help the OCA and the AESF to bring in new possibilities for the esports industry in Asia.

　　Steven Ma, Senior Vice President of Tencent, mentioned that Tencent will continue to support the OCA in promoting the development of sports and esports in Asia in the future, and in the preparation and facilitation of esports in the upcoming 19th Asian Games Hangzhou 2022. He promised that Tencent would work with Asian countries to jointly create an esports culture with Asian characteristics and promote the prosperity and development of the esports industry in Asia and beyond.

　　After signing the agreement, the guests discussed the positive influence of esports,  and the standardized development of the esports industry in Asia.

　　Kenneth Fok, President of Asian Electronic Sports Federation, shared information on the RDAG – the official Asia-wide esports event jointly launched by the OCA and AESF, and announced its extensive supoort to the esports programs of Asian Games Hangzhou 2022. In the future, AESF will conduct further cooperation with Tencent E-sports in international events organization, culture, talents, and joint promotion of the overall development of esports in Asia.

　　Mars Hou, Vice President of Tencent Games & General Manager of Tencent esports, said that Tencent E-sports will spare no effort to assist AESF by actively sharing mature event organization experience, providing education for players and practitioners, jointly promoting the exchanges of competitive sports in Asia, as well as cultural exchanges among nations and regions.

　　Afterwards, Steve Kim, AESF Chief Operations Officer and Sebastian Lau, AESF Director General, shared information on the RDAG campaign, highlighting that this wouldl be the start of setting a standardized system for esports events in Asia, and that the RDAG wouldl serve as a new platform to learn, share, and exchange for stakeholders.