Vietnamese managers and athletes have other important tasks, the conference heard, including assisting Laos to organize a successful SEA Games and participating in the 2009 Asian Martial Arts Games where 80 athletes will strive for gold in such events as pencak silat, karatedo, taekwondo and wushu.

The sports department will also send 90 people to the 2009 Asian Youth Games in Singapore to try for gold in shooting and track and field games in preparation for the 2010 Asiad and 2012 Olympic Games.

In addition, more than 200 sporting events including 30 international ones will be organized in Vietnam to create more chances for local athletes to practice.

At the conference, sports leaders also mentioned difficulties they may face this year caused by the global economic downturn. They said it would be hard to meet all the training demands of the athletes and that the merging of the culture, sports and tourism departments has made it difficult for many localities to train athletes.

Addressing the conference, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Thien Nhan suggested the sports department review the work of 2008 sports leaders to see some of the great achievements that were made.

Nhan also suggested that the department should strengthen efforts to help and encourage more people to exercise frequently, adding that only retired people engage in regular physical activity these days.

He suggested introducing Vietnamese martial arts in schools as a sport later this year.

Reported by Lan Phuong