Jose Luis Etcheverry, a director for Cali 2021 Organising Committee, presented the final report of last year's Games at the Panam Sports General Assembly here.

A total of 3,666 athletes from 41 nations competed across 28 sports at the inaugural edition of the Games that were staged last December.

During his presentation, Etcheverry confirmed that $31.7 million (£27.5 million/€31.8 million) were spent on Cali 2021, with $13.1 million (£11.3 million/€13.15 million) coming from the Colombian Government.

But Etcheverry claimed the Games generated a huge financial benefit to Cali.

"We conducted a survey of the economic impact that was seen for the people of Colombia in the cities where the total expenses of the attendees created $10.3 million (£8.9 million/€10.2 million) with a total economic impact of $62.4 million (£54 million/€62.3 million)," said Etcheverry.

"The expenses of organising the Games totalled $31.7 million with an economic impact of $171.9 million (£148.7 million/€171.6 million).

"The total impact rose to $234.3 million which is a positive economic impact for different industries across the city, like hotels and transport.

"That’s why it is so relevant to hold sporting events, developing counties like ours.

"We have seen the benefit of having them now, not only the city develops but the whole country does."

Camilo Pérez, an Executive Committee member for Panam Sports, was delighted by the figures reported by Cali 2021.

"[Staging multi-sport events] are always looked upon as an expense but they are an investment," said Paraguayan Olympic Committee President.

According to Cali 2021, the Games offered a "positive contribution in terms of impact on employment, the image of Cali and its projection abroad".

Michael Fennell, head of the Panam Sports' Technical Commission for Cali 2021, hailed the Games as "extremely successful".

"They had a comprehensive programme and one that was quite challenging for the first Games with a limited budget," said Fennell.

"All the NOCs [National Olympic Committee] ensured that they had successful competitions.

"The events that were held were valid and some of the performances were extremely creditable.

"A lot of data and numbers have been presented but we can’t present the excitement, the energy and the inspiration that was derived from these competitions.

"It was a very successful event and one that we can be proud of.

"Having had the first one, we now have to build on that success and ensure that we can move forward with another Games."