The Osaka bid committee for the 2008 Olympic Games has asked Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori to attend a reception for International Olympic Committee delegates scheduled to visit the city in late February, committee sources said Monday.
Osaka bid officials plan to hold the reception Feb. 28 for IOC Evaluation Commission members, who next month will begin a trip to the five bid cities, which also include Beijing, Istanbul, Paris and Toronto, to study their candidacy.
With Mori's presence, Osaka hopes to impress the IOC delegates with the city's eagerness to host the 2008 Games and the central government's support, which helped Tokyo, Sapporo and Nagano stage successful Summer and Winter Olympics in the past.
The invitation to Mori is the first to an official event in Osaka's bidding process. The winning candidate will be announced July 13, when the IOC holds a general assembly meeting in Moscow to name the 2008 host city.