The UAE's National Olympic Committee's vice-president denied any pullout and claimed that Dubai "did not apply for hosting 2019 Asian Games" and had "only considered" doing so.

[16] After Hanoi's withdrawal, the OCA said that Indonesia, China, and the United Arab Emirates were major candidates under consideration to host.

[22] On 25 July 2014, during a meeting in Kuwait City, the OCA appointed Jakarta as the host of the Games with Palembang as the supporting host.As the capital and the third biggest city on southern hemisphere,Jakarta was chosen because of its well-equipped sports facilities, adequate transportation networks, and other facilities such as hotels and lodging for guests.

[25][26][27] By 2015, the central government had allocated a budget of IDR 3 trillion (US$224 million) to prepare for the Games, with regional administrations also expected to supply some part of the funding.

[29][30][31] However, on 2 September 2018, the Finance Minister of Indonesia Sri Mulyani disclosed that IDR 8.2 trillion was financed by 2015–2018 state budget, which was used by the local organizing committee, namely the Indonesia Asian Games Organizing Committee (INASGOC) led by Erick Thohir, for all preparations, opening, organising, and finalizing the implementation of the 2018 Asian Games.

[35][36] The volunteers wore clothing which included jacket, polo shirts and trousers which they collected from the Uniform Distribution and Accreditation Centre at the Sports and Recreation Arena in East Jakarta.

[39] The torch relay began at the Major Dhyan Chand National Stadium in New Delhi, host of the 1st Asian Games, on 15 July 2018.

[42] The relay finished on 17 August, the 73rd anniversary of the Proclamation of Indonesian Independence, at the National Monument in Jakarta before being carried into the opening ceremony at Gelora Bung Karno Stadium the next day.

[40] The initial emblem for the 2018 Asian Games was first unveiled on 9 September 2015, in celebration of the country's National Sports Day.

The new emblem was modelled upon the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium, and was intended to symbolise unity among Asian countries.

[52] On 18 August 2017, simultaneous events were held at Jakarta's National Monument and Palembang's Kuto Besak Fort to mark the one-year milestone before the Games.

The event in Jakarta was attended by president Joko Widodo, and featured performances by Taeyeon and Hyoyeon of K-pop group Girls' Generation.

[53][54] Several fun run events were held in Asian countries to promote the Games, beginning with Lahore, Pakistan in December 2017.

The song was included in a larger official album for the Games, released on 13 July 2018 and featuring various Indonesian musicians.

[59] As part of an effort to appeal younger spectators, the Indonesian-Japanese idol group JKT48 was signed to perform at some of the Games' venues, such as jet ski, softball, and volleyball.

[65][66] The 56-year-old Main Stadium was refurbished for the Games,[67][68] replacing its existing bleachers and seating with an all-seater design (reducing its capacity to 77,193), and adding new sound systems and LED lighting among other enhancements.

[72] The Jakarta International Equestrian Park at Pulomas underwent a US$30.8 million renovation, with a capacity of 1,000, 100 stables, lodging for athletes, and other amenities.

City bus operator TransJakarta added 416 buses to serve the officials,[83] and also provide free rides on selected days during the Games.

[89] The ceremony stage showcased a towering 26 meter-high mountain with a waterfall as its background, accompanied by Indonesian plants and flowers.

[91] In April 2017, the OCA approved reductions in the programme in response to cost concerns; belt wrestling, cricket, kurash, skateboarding, sambo, and surfing were dropped from the programme, and there was to be a reduced number of competitions in bridge, jet ski, jujitsu, paragliding, sport climbing, taekwondo (in particular, all non-Olympic weight classes), and wushu.

[133][134] Roller skating Canoe polo (demonstration) The closing ceremony started at 19:00 Western Indonesia Time (UTC+7) on Sunday, 2 September 2018 and ended at 21:25.

In addition to local artists and a Chinese segment, the South Korean boybands Super Junior and iKon, and Indian singer Sidharth Slathia performed in the ceremony.

Korea claimed their first gold medal at the Games in the canoeing women's traditional boat race 500 m event.

[139][140] Involving 37 live production units, it distributed 2,400 hours of the Games content to its international rights holders.

[151] Governor of Jakarta at that time, and the Indonesian Environment and Forestry Ministry quickly relieved the issues by various solutions.