The World Expo-2030

Blog Credit: Trupti Thakur

Image Courtesy: Google

The World Expo-2030

 

Expo 2030 is an upcoming World Expo organized and sanctioned by the Bureau of International des Expositions (BIE), which will be held in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It will take place six months during late 2030 and early 2031, opening on 1 October 2030 and closing on 31 March 2031. Riyadh will be the second Arab city to host the Expo after Dubai, United Arab Emirates in 2020.

The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) announced yesterday, on Tuesday, November 28, that Riyadh, the capital city of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been selected to host the 2030 World Expo, by securing the necessary two-thirds majority of votes in the first round. Marking another milestone for the Gulf, following Dubai’s Expo 2020 and Qatar’s hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2022, this five-yearly event draws millions of visitors and investments. Under the theme, “The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow”, Expo 2030 Riyadh will run between 1 October 2030 and 31 March 2031.

Competing against South Korea’s port city of Busan and Rome in Italy, Riyadh won the bid with 119 votes, while Busan received 29 votes, and Rome got 17 votes out of the 182 members of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). Other explored subjects were the themes of “Transforming Our World, Navigating Toward a Better Future” by Busan and “People and Territories: Regeneration, Inclusion and Innovation”, for Rome.

The latest World Expo, Expo 2020 Dubai, took the theme of “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” attracting over 24 million visitors. The upcoming World Expo, Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai, is scheduled for April 13 to October 13, 2025, under the theme of “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”

SEOUL

Delegates representing the 179 members of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) have voted to award the World Expo 2030 to the Saudi Arabian capital of Riyadh, beating bids by South Korea’s Busan and Rome to host the event.

Riyadh received 119 votes, while Busan garnered 29 and Rome 17 for the international event that is held every five years.

Busan was outspent in its bid to host the expo.

South Korea allocated $5.7 billion in government funds to its campaign to attract the expo to the southern port city Busan, less than the $10.9 billion put forward by Italy and $7.8 billion by Saudi Arabia.

The bid has been high on Seoul’s national agenda in recent months. Politicians on both sides of the aisle have spoken out in support while advertisements have been erected throughout South Korean cities and public events of all stripes have featured messages promoting the bid.

The next World Expo is scheduled for 2025 in Osaka, where the expense of the event has drawn resentment from locals, while labor shortages and construction delays have presented headaches for organizers. A national poll by public broadcaster NHK published on Tuesday showed that 77% of respondents disapproved of recent increases in the cost of  constructing the Osaka expo venue.

Busan is South Korea’s second-largest city after the capital Seoul. The economy of the city of 3.31 million has waned in recent years, leaving policymakers to seek new growth engines alongside mainstay industries such as manufacturing and tourism.

The Expo bid enjoyed strong public support, with 82% of respondents to a Gallup Korea poll released in June saying they were in favor of attempting to win the event.

The centerpiece of Busan’s bid was the city’s commercial port area, one of the 10 busiest cargo ports in the world. An official involved in South Korea’s bid told Nikkei Asia this month that the World Expo bid was part of a preexisting revitalization strategy for the port area. Instead of building new structures, the plan had been to renovate and update buildings that are in need of refurbishment and modernization, the official said.

Theme

The theme for the expo is “The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow” with sub-themes of ” A Different Tomorrow”, “Climate Action” and “Prosperity for All”.

Candidature process

Russia was the first to submit a bid, with a submission for Moscow on 29 April 2021. This opened a six-month window for other submissions to be made by 29 October. Following five conferences to attract attention for a 2030 bid, South Korea submitted a proposal for Busan on 23 June 2021. Italy was the third country to submit a bid, proposing the city of Rome as host city. Ukraine submitted a bid for Odesa on 15 October. Saudi Arabia submitted a bid for Riyadh on 29 October.

Candidates

On 29 October 2021 BIE confirmed five bids for the Expo 2030: Russia had proposed a bid for Moscow, but withdrew in May 2022 following its military invasion of Ukraine.  Ukraine had proposed a bid for Odessa, but was excluded in June 2023 due to the Russian invasion of the country, leaving three bids left in the running. In the final vote for hosting nation on 28 November, Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, was elected as the host city of World Expo 2030.

 

 

Blog By: Trupti Thakur