Dubai – Saudi Arabia’s government has submitted a formal request for its capital city Riyadh to host the World Expo 2030. The current edition of the exhibition, Expo 2020, is taking place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, through March 2022. The theme proposed by the Saudis is “The era of change: Leading the planet to a foresighted tomorrow.” Crown prince Mohammed bin Salman made the announcement. The Saudi capital is up against Russia’s Moscow, Italia’s Rome, South Korea’s Busan, and Ukraine’s Odessa.
A letter was delivered in Paris to the secretary general of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), Dimitri Kerkentzes, by the chief executive officer of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City Fahd Al-Rasheed (pictured above). Salman said the world lives in an era of change and faces an unprecedented need for humanity’s collective action. “It is clear that the whole world, as a collective, needs to work together to foresee the future and address, with its brightest minds, the challenges and opportunities that emanate from this change,” he added.
“The 2030 World Expo in Riyadh will coincide with the culmination of the Kingdom’s Vision 2030,” Salman highlighted. The Saudi Vision 2030 is a strategic framework to reduce the Kingdom’s dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation and tourism and was launched by the crown prince in 2016.
Salman also said that “the World Expo 2030 will represent an extraordinary opportunity to share with the world our lessons from this unprecedented transformation.” In nine years, Expo 2030 will take place from October 1, 2030 to April 1, 2031.
The Royal Commission for Riyadh City, which is the authority responsible for the city of Riyadh, will lead the Saudi bid for the World Expo 2030. Additional details of the proposal will be submitted to the BIE in Paris in December.
Expo 2020 Dubai was postponed by a year due to COVID-19 and receives 192 countries in its pavilions. The UAE vice president and Dubai ruler Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum announced on his social medial his support for the Saudi bid. “We will give our brothers access to the knowledge and experience we gained throughout seven years of preparation for the Expo,” he twitted.
World exhibitions are global meetings of nations devoted to finding solutions to urgent challenges of their time and have taken place since 1851.
*With information from Saudi newspaper Arab News.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda