CEO of the Royal Commission for the City of Riyadh, Fahd bin Abdulmohsen Al-Rasheed, has reiterated that the Saudi proposal to host Expo 2030 is not a one-time investment, but rather an investment in the future of the capital to serve its citizens, residents, and visitors. This came in a session held on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF), in Davos where he said: "We aspire to provide an unforgettable experience at the exhibition's premises and to activate the efficiency of its use in the best way, as we aim to make it an interactive experience that leaves a distinctive memory, and therefore we work on designing buildings and the roads infrastructure and we have included this in the master plan of the site in a way that enables us to use it after the exhibition with a mechanism that contributes to supporting the future of work, education and the acquisition of new skills in the city." "Working on the infrastructure of Expo 2030 is part of the work to develop the infrastructure in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in general and Riyadh in particular, given that the Kingdom's Vision 2030 launched by HRH Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, attaches great importance in this regard, and we aspire from the Expo 2030 experience to achieve collective participation on an unprecedented global scale," the CEO added. He continued by saying: "It is certainly the largest interactive global event, and therefore we will not only target 30 or 40 million visits to the exhibition, but we will also seek to enable a billion people to achieve interaction with the event through the metaverse world, and in this way, we will give a billion people the opportunity to attend and see the exhibition, which undoubtedly will be a huge achievement, and we will seek to maximize the benefit of this interaction around the world by enabling them to virtually enter and conduct experiments related to the use of water and energy, which will make a huge impact." Al-Rasheed added, "We will work to connect the site with a huge transport network to provide an integrated experience, as the metro network will be linked to the site located south of King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, which represents the gateway to the city." Highlighting the enormity of the existing work, Al-Rasheed said: "This does not mean that building a site of this complexity will not be costly. The Kingdom will invest a huge amount to turn these plans into reality, and although it will be a very large investment, we have set a target for revenues, and we also set additional social and economic goals represented in providing job opportunities before, during, and after the exhibition period. In the context of talking about the theme of the exhibition, Al-Rasheed said: "The responsibility for shaping our future lies with all of us, countries, companies, and individuals. Riyadh Expo 2030 will be held under the title (Together for a Foresighted Tomorrow), and we will have three sub-themes: (a better tomorrow), (climate action) and (prosperity for all). "We always renew our commitment to sustainability, and that is why we launched last year (Riyadh Sustainability Strategy), which serves our goals towards achieving sustainable economic growth," Al-Rasheed concluded in the meeting, which was attended by a large number of WEF delegates, businessmen, journalists, and investors. The Royal Commission for the City of Riyadh supervises the comprehensive strategic development programs in the city of Riyadh, and the Royal Commission for the City of Riyadh was established in 1974 under the name of the "Higher Commission for the Development of the City of Riyadh", before it was changed later to the "Royal Commission for the City of Riyadh", per a royal decree issued in the year 2019.
