Resolutely green, with high universal and technological values: three countries presented their Universal Exhibition project for 2030 on Tuesday in Paris, with similar narratives, carried by the highest national authorities, the Prince of Saudi Arabia, the South Korean President and the Italian Prime Minister.
The International Bureau of Exhibitions (BIE), an intergovernmental organization based in Paris which “frames, promotes and develops” these events, held its general meeting on Tuesday afternoon, during which “three applications” were considered.
In competition: Rome, Busan (South Korea) and Riyadh, whose project audits have been presented to the 179 member states, who will vote in November by secret ballot to determine the winner, according to the BIE.
Ukraine, which had submitted a candidacy file in September 2022 for Odessa, is no longer mentioned in a press release from this organization published on Tuesday.
The first to arrive in Paris to defend the chances of his country was Mohammed ben Salmane (MBS), who on Friday had lunch with French President Emmanuel Macron to discuss major geopolitical issues (Ukraine, Lebanon, Syria, Iran).
The Saudi prince, at the helm of a pharaonic development plan called “Vision 2030”, would see with a very good eye that Riyadh hosts the Universal Exhibition this same year.
Before BIE members on Tuesday, the Saudi delegation, led by several ministers but without MBS, touted a green event – “world-class natural landscapes”, “the most sustainable exhibition”, “the first carbon-negative exhibition ” – in a country that is nevertheless arid, among the world’s leading oil producers and one of the largest emitters of greenhouse gases per capita.
Aware of the criticisms addressed to Qatar for the last Football World Cup, Riyadh promises “labour rights for all contract workers” involved in Riyadh-2030, to which a budget of 7.8 billion dollars will be allocated.
“We are confident in our ability to deliver an unprecedented World Expo experience,” MBS commented, quoted in a promotional video.
Same story for South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol, who guaranteed “the best Universal Exhibition of all time” a few hours after talking with Emmanuel Macron about “civil nuclear” but also about “cooperation in sectors of the future”.
“Busan-2030 will be remembered as the place where “our priorities changed”, to move “from competition to solidarity”, also assured Mr. Yoon.
And the South Korean team to promote a “harmony of nature, humanity, technology”, “a platform of ideals for future generations” built on a former industrial port of Busan transformed into a “sustainable place of life”, where small floating islands will also be built.
Italy, for its part, offered, via its Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, to “bring together history and the future” in Rome, “the universal city par excellence”, “the first megalopolis in history”, where the “largest urban solar park in the world” would be built for the occasion.
Ms. Meloni was then to meet Mr. Macron, while France and Italy are experiencing a series of crises around the sensitive issue of immigration.
The French president plays no role in the attribution of the event, but the presence in Paris of the BIE allows him to meet his counterparts who travel to Paris.
The Italian team repeatedly summoned the Colosseum, a symbolic monument of the Italian capital, and even the New Zealand actor Russel Crowe, main character of the film “Gladiator”, which took place there, while involving the national astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti as a pledge of modernity.
Each candidate country around a “vision”, according to the BIE and pushes its candidacy with a lot of sometimes abstract slogans.
Busan aims to host the event from May 1 to October 31, 2030 around the theme “Transforming our world, sailing towards a brighter future”, when Rome’s bid, on the same dates, will focus on “People and Places: Regeneration, Inclusion and innovation”.
Riyadh would host from October 1, 2030 to March 31, 2031 and the event would focus on: “The Age of Change: Together for a Visionary Future”.
Universal exhibitions are held every five years and last a maximum of six months. They allow the chosen country to “build extraordinary pavilions and transform the host city in the long term”, according to the BIE.
For example, the Eiffel Tower was built in Paris for the Universal Exhibition of 1889.
The latest, in Dubai, recorded 24 million visitors. The 2025 one will be held in Osaka, Japan.
06/20/2023 18:34:38 – Paris (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
