Representatives of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) have completed their 5-day Enquiry Mission, as part of the examination of Riyadh's candidature to host World Expo 2030. The BIE Enquiry Mission delegation held a meeting with His Royal Highness Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz, the Crown Prince, Prime Minister and Chairman of the Board of Directors of RCRC. In addition to attending a series of meetings and workshops with a number of ministers and senior officials, as well as with representatives from the private and social sectors, they discussed the feasibility of the capital's candidacy file to host this global event. The mission spent the past five days reviewing the technical aspects of the Kingdom's candidacy and experienced firsthand the transformation journey of the Kingdom in which Riyadh plays a key role. During the press conference that was held today at RCRC, Fahd Abdulmohsen Al-Rasheed, CEO of RCRC, stated: "We would like to thank the BIE delegation for visiting our capital and reviewing our candidacy bid to host this important international exhibition. Our candidacy is strong, as we have met all technical requirements, and have garnered unprecedented international support to host the Riyadh Expo 2030. This is the result of the support from our Leadership, from all government entities, as well as from the Saudi society." Al-Rasheed added: "We will present an exceptional edition of the Riyadh Expo 2030, where we expect to achieve unprecedented attendance: 40 million site visits, and a billion visitors through the Metaverse, a first in the history of World Expo exhibitions. We are happy to reaffirm the readiness of the Kingdom and the enthusiasm of its citizens and residents to host this global event." Patrick Specht, Chairperson of the Enquiry Mission and President of the BIE Administration and Budget Committee, thanked the Kingdom for its great hospitality during the past five days, saying: "We had the great honor to meet His Royal Highness, which was one of the main highlights of our mission. We were shown what the country is capable of, and the country and the city have everything we asked about". For his part, the Secretary General of the BIE, Dimitri Kerkentzes, expressed his thanks and appreciation to the Government of Saudi Arabia for the warm welcome and hospitality that were extended to the Enquiry Mission, commenting: "Let me please thank the whole government of Saudi Arabia for the incredible hospitality they have shown us and, honestly, for the incredible discovery that we have had over these past 5 days, not only of the Kingdom, but its people, its wishes and its aspirations for the future. And I think when you hear me say that, you understand that we see an Expo in 2030 fits in very well with the program of what we have seen this last week, and how the development of the country has been moving over the last few years". Kerkentzes continued:"I wanted to let you know that we have seen a project strong from the very top, from His Royal Highness, all the way down to government, from every minister and every member of Saudi Arabia that we have met and have spoken to, all have an incredible support for this project". Kerkentzes added: "There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia and Riyadh have everything needed to host the successful Expo". The BIE Secretary General concluded: "The Expo project fits in perfectly with the developmental ideas of this city and this country. We see that the project is part of a natural expansion of Riyadh towards the new airport, with the metro line that is already built and soon-to-be in operation. It serves perfectly the needs of such an Expo, which for us plays an important role in knowing that the infrastructure is something that is already here, and ready to be used, should you be chosen in November to host the Expo in 2030". Other BIE delegations are scheduled to visit competing cities in Odesa, Ukraine (from March 20 to 24), Busan, South Korea (from April 3 to 7) and Rome, Italy (from April 17 to 21), before the final vote to choose the host city which will take place in November of this year.
