SINGAPORE - The Asean Para Games (APG), which will be staged in Singapore from Dec 3-9, will run on a budget of about $75 million.

Minister for Culture, Community and Youth (MCCY) Lawrence Wong revealed this on Sunday evening at the United Football Tournament, a seven-a-side para-football competition held at the Toa Payoh HDB Hub Mall.

Speaking on the sidelines of the event, Mr Wong said that preparations for the biennial Games, now into its eighth edition, are in its final stages.

Some 3,000 athletes and officials from 11 South-east Asian nations are expected to gather in the Republic for the multi-sport event.

He said: "Most of the technical details are being taken care of.

"In terms of athlete preparation, they're all training very hard.

"Over the next few weeks, you'll see a lot of activity, para-athletes going out to the community, roadshows for Singaporeans to try out para-sports. That's part of the community engagement phase."

The para-football competition on Sunday was part of a series of community outreach events held by the Singapore Asean Para Games Organising Committee in a bid to drum up publicity for the APG, and also raise awareness and support for disability sports.

Football legends such as Fandi Ahmad and Nazri Nasir were also there to lend their support.

Singapore is hosting the APG for the first time. The SEA Games in June saw Singapore host more than 7,000 athletes and officials across 36 sports on a budget of $324.5 million.