Rio de Janeiro State Governor Sergio Cabral, the Brazilian Ambassador for Singapore Paulo Alberto Soares and Rio's Secretary for transport and infrastructure Julio Lopes attended the XXVIII OCA General Assembly held in Singapore yesterday alongside the 1st edition of the Asian Youth Games.

Sergio Cabral said: "Integrating and promoting our bid for the 2016 Games across the continent of Asia is of vital importance to us. Asia is one of the fastest growing areas in the Olympic Movement. We are here not only to share our vision for the Games, but also to listen and learn".

The governmental authorities joined Rio 2016 Secretary General, Carlos Osorio and Rio 2016 International Relations Director, Mario Cilenti, both of whom were already in Singapore attending the Asian Youth Games and attending the OCA General Assembly. Carlos Osorio highlighted the importance of the Brazilian Government's presence in Singapore: "With only three months to go to the Oct 2nd election in Copenhagen, we continue to work hard to make Rio's case to welcome the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The presence of a high level delegation in Singapore reinforces the total support for our bid across all levels of Government and Brazilian society".

The Governor's attendance at the General Assembly is part of an official visit to Asia. Governor Cabral spent 5 days in China where he visited several cities including Beijing where he met with the City Mayor to learn from the successful experience of Beijing 2008. During the visit to China, Governor Cabral also signed a US$ 400 million contract to purchase new trains for Rio's Subway and Suburban Rail systems. The upgrade to the city's mass transport system forms part of the Rio 2016 infrastructure development project.