Saudi Arabia has set its sights on Expo 2030, the world’s largest exposition bringing together nations to showcase their proudest and most innovative achievements. The Kingdom launched its bid to host the renowned world fair this week, with the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) submitting the bid as the Kingdom joined 170 other nations in a virtual general assembly meeting at Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in Paris. Saudi Arabia hopes to be able to host the six-month event, which will coincide with the culmination of its Vision 2030.
Speaking on the Kingdom’s decision to make a bid, Fahd Al-Rasheed, CEO of RCRC, explained that Riyadh will be the “perfect manifestation of what the world expo aims to achieve.” Indeed, Saudi Arabia is rich in heritage and culture, with the G20 nation opening itself to foreign investments, which makes the Saudi capital an ideal candidate to host the global event. Currently, Saudi Arabia will be taking part in a five-stage bidding process as it competes with Italy, South Korea, Russia, and Ukraine to host Expo 2030.
Hosting the event is a great opportunity to showcase a nation, ideas, and awareness, but it may also pave the way to economic growth. In its part, by 2030, Saudi Arabia hopes to increase its annual GDP through non-oil industries such as tech, cinema, and tourism. As part of the BIE meeting, in fact, Al-Rasheed took member states on a guided tour across some of the Kingdom's iconic tourism destinations such as AlUla, Asir, and the Red Sea coast. “As you can see, Saudi Arabia is not just a G20 country. It has natural resources, environmental diversity, ambitious youth, wise leadership, and a great vision,” he said.
The bid came over a month after the Kingdom had expressed its desire to host Expo 2030. In October, Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman sent a letter to the BIE, hence officially forwarding his nation's bid to host the event. In it, His Highness wrote, “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.”
