Speaking at a ceremony where the first foundation stone for the Athletes' Village was laid in the capital, Marci predicted a positive event despite well documented economic problems in the South American country.

"Soon the Youth Olympics 2018 will be here and it will be a great party of Argentina," he said according to Xinhua.

"Hosting the Youth Olympics is a great opportunity to tell the world 'here we are, the Argentinians'.

"This will bring works and it will generate development.

"The Games will promote the values of sport and the Olympic values and for that reason today is a day of celebration for the city."

Marci was joined at the site of the Olympic Village, in the southern Villa Soldati neighbourhood, by Argentine Olympic Committee President Gerardo Werthein and Buenos Aires mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta.

The Village, located near the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club, was earmarked as a key concern for organisers by Buenos Aires 2018 chief executive Leandro Larrosa earlier this year.

“We have started the building of the Olympic Village in the south area of the city so I think that is the main challenge at the moment,” he told insidethegames in February.

“I have to follow up so closely in order to see that the timing is correct."

Organisers are hoping to use the Buenos Aires Games to revitalise the southern part of the city and leave a lasting legacy.

According to officials, the Athletes’ Village is within close walking distance of 50 per cent of the venues which will be used during the third edition of the Summer Youth Olympic Games.

"We are building the Olympic Village for athletes, but that started to build a neighborhood of social housing to develop the south of the city of Buenos Aires," Rodriguez Larreta told Arg Noticas.

The foundation stone at the Village was made from recycled material.

Buenos Aires, which beat bids from Medellin in Colombia and Glasgow in Scotland to win the 2018 hosting rights, will stage the Games between October 1 and October 12.

The future of the Youth Olympics Games as a whole remains in doubt, however, after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) discussed the possibility of scrapping the event last year.

Several members are openly hostile about the Games, claiming it is too expensive and drains too much of the IOC’s resources.

IOC President Thomas Bach has dismissed these claims, however, reiterating his view that it should remain a sporting competition.