Vipuala Wanigasekera, Sri Lanka Tourism’s acting director general declined to specify the games, but said the bidding documents were being prepared.

"I can't tell you the name because the bid is about to be submitted in the next two days to the organisation,” an evasive Wanigasekera told businessmen on Wednesday during the Singapore-Sri Lanka business forum in Colombo.

"Hopefully, you will hear the announcement within the next two weeks," he said.

Wanigasekera’s optimism comes after Sri Lanka lost to Australia’s Gold Coast in Saint Kitts last year, to host the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

In April, Sports Minister MahindananadaAluthgamage said the lengthy bidding process cost the island 880 million rupees, mostly raised through public and private organisations.

Among the biggest sporting events hosted in Sri Lanka include two cricket World Cups (in 1996 and 2011), where the country was the co-hosts.

The Indian Ocean Island also hosted a 12-nation Champions Trophy cricket tournament and a 40-nation Asian Athletic Championship, both in 2002, and two South Asian Games.

The 2011 World Cup left cricket administrators nearly 70 million dollars in debt, mostly to build two new stadiums and renovate a third. In September, the country will host cricket’s World Twenty20 tournament, which is expected to cost some 600,000 dollars to revamp infrastructure.

However, officials remain undeterred, and told businessmen on Wednesday that they hope to pitch Hambantota,as the candidate city for the undisclosed international game.

Situated in the deep-south, Hambantota is the constituency of Sri Lankan President MahindaRajapakse, who has developed the region into a large commercial city with its own port, airport, luxury hotels and a convention centre.

Rajapakse, a keen sports lover, is keen to change the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami-ravaged coastal town into a unique modern sports city through hosting international games. A new cricket stadium opened in Hambantota last year, and hosted two World Cup games.