Saudi Arabia submits bid to host Expo 2030
Saudi Arabia has set out its bid for Riyadh to host Expo 2030 – just before the event’s governing body closed the window for applications.
Riyadh is up against Moscow, Rome, Ukraine’s resort city of Odessa and South Korea’s second city, Busan.
The final decision rests on a vote by 170 members of the Bureau International des Expositions, in 2023.
Dimitri Kerkentzes, the organisation’s secretary general, said the bids were evidence of the compelling interest in Expos.
“The BIE welcomes these five candidatures, which attest to the strong and shared desire for nations around the world to come together to shape a common vision for peace and human progress,” he said.
“The expression of these different visions for the future will be of interest to us all as we learn more about these candidatures in the project evaluation phase.”
All five bids will be examined, with each nation required to submit detailed dossiers of their proposals. The BIE will then organise inquiry missions to the countries to assess each project’s feasibility.
All projects will be presented to members for the first time in December, and then in subsequent assemblies until the final vote.
Saudi Arabia proposes hosting the six-month Expo event in Riyadh in October 2030 under the theme “The era of change: Leading the planet to a foresighted tomorrow”.
Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has said the decision was made to address “an unprecedented need for humanity’s collective action”.
The UAE is backing the kingdom’s bid. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, said the experience gained in preparing for Expo 2020 Dubai would be “available to our brothers”.
Of the other bids, Italy has hosted two expos – in Milan in 1906 and 2015 – as well as five specialised expos.
Specialised expos are held for three months on a specific theme. The 2017 Astana Expo on future energy was held in Kazakhstan.
Russia and South Korea presented their projects to the bureau’s general assembly at a video conference in June.
The global gathering of nations aims to find solutions to challenges facing the world and allows countries to build pavilions that millions of people can visit over six months.
Expo 2020 Dubai has recorded strong numbers, with more than 1.5 million visits since the opening day on October 1.
After the Expo ends in March next year, the focus shifts to Japan’s second-largest city, Osaka, which will host the world’s fair in 2025 under the theme “Designing the future society for our lives”.