Saudi Arabia, which has bid to host the Expo 2030 world fair, is pushing ahead with plans to turn its capital Riyadh into a major global metropolis, a government official said on Thursday.
The kingdom has ambitions to double the size and population of its capital city with total investments of some $800 billion under its Vision 2030 plan to modernize the Gulf Arab state and diversify the economy to wean it off oil export revenues.
Saudi Arabia’s delegation in the World Economic Forum in Davos was among the largest, from Aramco executives to a number of cabinet members.
Among them was Fahd Al Rasheed, chief executive of the Royal Commission for Riyadh City, who was promoting his city and its ambition to be one of the fastest-growing in the world.
Among the projects under Mr Al Rasheed’s purview is the Saudi bid to host Expo 2030. Riyadh is competing against cities including Busan and Rome. Odessa and Moscow were also in the running but given the Ukraine war, it seems unlikely to happen.
Mr Al Rasheed spoke of the significance of the Expo bid as it would coincide with the delivery of Vision 2030, the overarching master plan for the transformation of Saudi Arabia launched by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
The host country for the 2030 Expo is expected to be selected in November. Riyadh is competing with Italy’s Rome, South Korea’s Busan and Ukraine’s Odesa.
Saudi Arabia has also pushed through social reforms to modernize the conservative country, the birthplace of Islam, including lifting a ban on women driving and permitting public entertainment like concerts.
If Saudi Arabia wins its bid it would be the second Arab country to host Expo after the United Arab Emirates. Last year, neighboring Qatar hosted soccer’s World Cup.
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