The Diplomat
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, traveled yesterday to Paris to support Malaga’s candidacy for the 2027 International Exposition before the 171st Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).
Albares headed the Spanish delegation that went to the BIE Assembly -which began yesterday and will conclude today- to defend Malaga’s candidacy, whose slogan is The urban era: towards the sustainable city and which will compete with the proposals of Minnesota (USA), Phuket (Thailand), Belgrade (Serbia) and Bariloche (Argentina). The winner will be announced at the next BIE Assembly in June 2023.
The delegation of the candidacy, which is presented as a “country project”, also included representatives of the Andalusian Government, the Provincial Council, the City Council of Malaga (Mayor Francisco de la Torre) and internationally recognized Spanish personalities, such as the Malaga actor Antonio Banderas or the tennis player Rafael Nadal, who participated by videoconference.
Since the official presentation of Malaga’s candidacy last June, at the 170th General Assembly of the BIE, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has also participated in promoting the candidacy by presenting it to the diplomatic corps accredited in Spain, in order to give it visibility and disseminate it internationally.
Likewise, Minister José Manuel Albares received the evaluation mission of the International Exhibitions Bureau, which traveled to Spain in September to evaluate Malaga’s candidacy and also met with King Felipe VI and the President of the Government, Pedro Sánchez. The delegation was led by the president of the BIE Executive Committee, Alain Berger, and the secretary general of this organization, Dimitri S. Kerkentzes. The evaluation missions apply very strict scales to assess both technical and financial issues, but also the political and social support for the Expo.
In the case of EXPO2027 Malaga, according to Foreign Affairs, “the candidacy has the support of all public administrations, civil society and citizens in general”. In addition, “Malaga’s candidacy has a series of strengths that differentiate it from the other candidate cities to host an Expo in 2027,” added the Department headed by Albares.
The urban era: towards the sustainable city proposes, on the basis of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) for 2030, a “reflection on one of the main challenges facing contemporary society in the medium and long term: making population growth and urban development compatible with environmental protection and the adoption of innovative solutions that ensure an improvement in the quality of life of city residents,” stated the Ministry.
