Members of the Bureau International des ‎Expositions (BIE) Enquiry Mission arrived in Riyadh on March 5 to start their 6-‎day evaluation process of the Riyadh Candidacy for World Expo 2030.

The BIE delegation is headed by Patrick Specht, Chairperson of the Enquiry ‎Mission and President of the BIE Administration and Budget Committee. He is ‎accompanied by Dimitrios Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the BIE, and Eva ‎Descarrega Garcia (Andorra), Karen-Mae Hill, OBE (Antigua and Barbuda), ‎Aldwin Dekkers (Belgium) and additional members of the BIE Secretariat.

Welcoming the Enquiry Mission’s visit to Riyadh, Fahd Al-Rasheed, CEO of ‎the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, declared: “We are honored to ‎welcome the BIE Enquiry Mission to Saudi Arabia. This visit will provide a first-‎hand opportunity for the delegates to witness the support of our Leadership, ‎the commitment of our government, and the excitement of the people ‎of Riyadh and Saudi Arabia, to host a World Expo in our capital city in 2030”.

‎“Riyadh submitted a robust bid dossier last September under the main theme ‎‎“Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow”, and its candidacy is currently ‎enjoying global support”, added Al-Rasheed.

Over the course of the next five days, members of the Enquiry Mission will ‎engage with ministers, members of government and subject matter experts, to ‎evaluate the details of the Riyadh Expo 2030 bid. Its theme outlines a vision to ‎create a unique and collaborative platform for global problem-solving with an ‎enduring legacy, led by foresight and geared towards delivering impact at a ‎global scale.

The Enquiry Mission is a mandatory prerequisite for a country’s candidature to ‎be considered for election. Its task, when visiting a candidate city, is to assess ‎the feasibility and viability of each one. This assessment includes detailed ‎presentations of the project and exchanges with officials and key stakeholders ‎involved in the candidature. Using the candidature dossier as a guide, each ‎Enquiry Mission will look into the motivations behind the Expo candidature, the ‎attractiveness of the proposed Expo theme, the proposed site and its planned ‎re-use after the Expo, levels of local and national support for the project, ‎expected participation, and the financial feasibility plan.

The findings of the Enquiry Missions will be discussed by the BIE’s Executive ‎Committee in May 2023, which will decide which candidatures to retain as ‎being feasible and viable. In November 2023, at the 173rd General Assembly of ‎the BIE, the host country of World Expo 2030 will be elected by BIE Member ‎States, via a secret ballot and based on the principle of “one country, one ‎vote”.

Saudi Arabia announced its bid to host World Expo 2030 in Riyadh in October ‎‎2021 and, since then, senior Saudi government officials have made three ‎presentations to the BIE General Assembly. The year 2023 will see key ‎milestones for Riyadh Expo 2030 with the current Enquiry Mission visit, a ‎presentation to the General Assembly in June and the final vote by the General ‎Assembly in November 2023.‎