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       Saudi Arabia to Host World Expo 2030, in Victory for Crown Prince

       Winning the rights to host the major global event is a coup for Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s efforts to remake the kingdom’s international image.

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       Promoting the Riyadh Expo 2030 in Paris on Tuesday. Credit...Thomas Padilla/Associated Press

       By Emma Bubola and Vivian Nereim

       Reporting from London and Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

       Nov. 28, 2023

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       Saudi Arabia won the bid to host the World Expo 2030 in a landslide on Tuesday, delivering a triumph to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the kingdom’s de facto ruler, as he seeks to reshape the authoritarian country’s international image — and his own.

       The vote was held by the Bureau International des Expositions in Paris, which has 182 member countries, and the 165 delegates who were present cast secret ballots. Saudi Arabia won 119 of the 165 votes, easily defeating South Korea and Italy.

       The win gives Saudi Arabia the chance to bask in the global spotlight in the year that the crown prince’s plan to diversify the kingdom’s oil-dependent economy, “Vision 2030,” is meant to conclude.

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       Emma Bubola is a reporter based in London. More about Emma Bubola

       Vivian Nereim is the lead reporter for The Times covering the countries of the Arabian Peninsula. She is based in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. More about Vivian Nereim

       A version of this article appears in print on Nov. 29, 2023, Section A , Page 6 of the New York edition with the headline: Saudi Arabia to Host World Expo 2030 in a Victory for Its Crown Prince . Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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