Malta likely to back Saudi bid for World Expo 2030 in snub to Rome

Malta is likely to back Saudi Arabia’s bid to hold the World Expo 2030 in Riyadh when the host city is elected next month. 

Riyadh is competing with Italy’s capital Rome and South Korea’s Busan for the title of host city, which will be determined by a secret vote on 28 November. 

The Expo is a world trade fair that attracts millions of visitors and investors, and gives the host country a chance to showcase its. It is regulated by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), a Paris-based intergovernmental organisation. 

The BIE has 181 member countries, including Malta that joined in 2000. The organisation functions on the principle of one country, one vote. 

With just eight weeks to go the bidders have intensified lobbying efforts and Malta is not being overlooked, sources close to government told MaltaToday. 

“Lobbying efforts are particularly intense, especially by the Saudis,” the sources said. 

Malta is not alone to snub Rome, a fellow EU member state, since France publicly declared its support for Riyadh last year. 

The decision, however, is bound to raise eyebrows in European diplomatic circles, especially after Josep Borrell, the EU’s equivalent of a foreign minister, said earlier this year Brussels would support Rome’s candidacy, hoping EU countries would do the same. 

But it appears the Maltese government is unfazed. 

“Nothing is cast in stone but Malta’s leaning towards Riyadh also sends a subtle political message that support in such settings should not be taken for granted,” the source said. “It’s all a question of lobbying and fostering diverse bilateral relationships.” 

It is unclear what Malta is expecting in return for its support but some form of cooperation with Saudi Arabia on tourism and education has not been ruled out, according to the source. 

Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo was in Riyadh last week for the World Tourism Day celebrations organised by the UN’s World Tourism Organisation and Foreign Minister Ian Borg met his Saudi counterpart in October last year. 

Saudi Arabia has been flexing its financial muscles and last June treated guests to a lavish reception in Paris as bidders held competing events to woo delegates who will choose the Expo winner. 
Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni made their pitch to host the prestigious events. 

Ukraine’s Black Sea port of Odesa had also applied to host the Expo before Russia invaded in February 2022. However, with the war still going on, it has now been ruled out. 

On the other hand, Busan in South Korea is disadvantaged given that the next Expo in 2025 is being held in neighbouring Japan in the port city of Osaka. 

This leaves Rome and Riyadh as the front runners. 

The Saudi Expo bid is part of Prince Mohammed’s international charm offensive to boost the kingdom’s image and influence on the world stage. The country, which is the biggest oil exporter, is trying to reduce dependence on fossil fuels and position itself as a financial hub, while broadening its tourism industry. 

The charm offensive includes utilising Saudi’s massive sovereign wealth fund to attract top football players such as Cristiano Ronaldo to play in the kingdom. Securing the Expo would be another prize along the way. 

But human rights activists say Prince Mohammed is simply using such events to clean up his country’s image after the 2018 murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents inside the kingdom’s consulate in Istanbul. The hit was reportedly ordered by Prince Mohammed. 

In May, rights groups called the bid an attempt to “whitewash the Saudi leadership’s past abuses and ongoing repression” in a letter to the BIE urging the organisation to drop Riyadh’s bid. 

But there has been a gradual rehabilitation in the West of Prince Mohammed with French president Emmanuel Macron hosting him at the Élysée Palace last year. 

The World Expo was first held in London’s Hyde Park in 1851 and the global event has long been an opportunity to showcase the hottest innovations of the day, including the world’s first telephone by Alexander Graham Bell. 

The event has historically seen icons being built such as the Eiffel Tower in Paris and Seattle’s Space Needle.