The Russian delegation for the 153rd General Assembly of the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) was headed by Deputy Prime Minister Arkady Dvorkovich, who also chairs the organising committee for Russia's bid to host Expo 2020 in the city of Yekaterinburg.
In accordance with BIE’s requirements, candidate presentations were to be submitted in video form. Russia’s presentation underlined the Government's backing of the bid, and featured remarks by President Vladimir Putin, who addressed the BIE in English. “Russia took part in the very first universal exhibition in London in 1851. And at the Paris Exhibition in 1900 our pavilion won the coveted Gold Medal and Grand Prix. But in all this time, Russia has not hosted the World Expo, not once. Surely, time has come to change this,” Putin said, adding that Yekaterinburg is a dynamic and promising city.
The theme of Russia’s bid is the Global Mind. “I think that this theme would be interesting for all countries, but we are putting a special emphasis on developing countries, low-income countries, on their involvement in the International Exhibition Movement,” Arkady Dvorkovich told reporters before the presentation. “If our bid wins, by 2020 we will improve the city’s infrastructure, upgrade the airport, construct a high-speed rail link and new education and healthcare facilities, as well as a new residential district with recreation facilities. We do not see this as a loss-making project. On the contrary, it would facilitate development of the city and will not burden taxpayers,” the Deputy Prime Minister went on to say.
BIE’s 153rd General Assembly featured presentations by four cities competing for the right to host Expo 2020: specifically, Yekaterinburg (Russia), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Sao Paolo (Brazil), and Izmir (Turkey).
