Riyadh wins bid to host 2030 World Expo

Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh was chosen to host the 2030 World Expo, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) announced on Tuesday.

Riyadh needed only one round of voting and secured the necessary two-thirds majority of member States at the general assembly of Paris-based BIE. Riyadh won 119 votes, South Korea’s Busan 29, and Italian capital Rome 17, the BIE said in a press release.

The Riyadh Expo is set to take place from October 2030 to March 2031 on the theme “The Era of Change: Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow,” according to the Saudi bid.

The most recent World Expo took place in 2020 in Dubai and the coming World Expo is due in 2025 in Osaka, Japan, on the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.”