Saudi Arabia secures the hosting rights for Expo 2030, marking another significant victory for a Gulf nation, following Qatar’s successful hosting of the World Cup last year.
Competing against South Korea’s Busan and Italy’s Rome, Riyadh emerged victorious with 119 votes, while Busan received 29 and Rome 17 out of 182 members of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). Saudi Arabia needed a two-thirds majority to win in the first round.
The Italian contenders expressed sharp criticism of the outcome, with Giampiero Massolo, head of the Italian Expo bid, stating, “This substantial result for Saudi was unexpected in those proportions. It is no longer about the merits but about transactions. Yesterday it was a soccer championship. Tomorrow it will be the Olympics.”
As the sole declared candidate, Saudi Arabia is poised to host the 2034 World Cup and is also contemplating an Olympics bid. Riyadh enlisted the support of football star Cristiano Ronaldo, who plays for the city’s Al Nassr club, to sway BIE members through a video presentation before the vote. The proposed timeline for the Expo is from October 2030 to March 2031.
This triumph adds to the successes of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s ambitious Vision 2030 program, designed to reduce the country’s reliance on oil. Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud emphasized the active engagement of a ministerial team globally to understand expectations and build trust with counterparts.