The Caspian region could once again be the host of a world’s fair, better known these days as an “expo,” as Azerbaijan’s capital city is in the running to host one in 2025. Earlier this week the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) announced that by next month a host city for the 2025 World Expo will be announced from Paris.
“Just one month to go! On 23 November, during the 164th General Assembly, Member States of the BIE will elect one of three candidates as the host country of World Expo 2025,” read a statement posted to the official BIE Twitter page on Tuesday.
The 170 BIE member states will pull the name of the winning city out of a hat next month after what has been a two-year-long bidding process. Alongside Osaka, Japan and Ekaterinburg in Russia, Baku could play host to what was last held in Milan, in 2015. Last year Kazakhstan was the site of “Expo 2017 Astana,” which was technically a Specialized Expo and not a World Expo. There the focus was renewable technologies and energy sources.
World Expos, officially known as International Registered Exhibitions, is a global gathering of nations organized, overseen and regulated by BIE every five years since 1931. Its overarching purpose is to find solutions to contemporary challenges using a universal theme that gives insight into issues of global importance.
The concept is derived from the 19th century world’s fairs, which began in London in 1851 and focused on industrialization. Since then these mega-events have garnered international and intergovernmental support, and today act as a bridge between private enterprise and innovation and government collaboration. Over a period of about three months, expertise and knowledge in the realms of science and technology are leveraged alongside proposals and ideas that address economic and social challenges.
Officials in Azerbaijan are so excited about the prospects of Baku hosting the event that a website dedicated to the country’s candidacy has been created, helping push what has already been branded as “Baku Expo 2025.” A page under the heading “Our Candidacy” gives 10 reasons why the event should be hosted in the South Caucasus region country that lies along the western shore of the Caspian Sea.
“Azerbaijan embraces the World Expo philosophy, and our values and history fit closely with those of the Expo movement,” reads a statement on the website. “We are a proudly multi-confessional and multicultural country. For centuries, Azerbaijan has been at the crossroads of continents and civilizations, bringing together people from all backgrounds.”
World Expo 2025 is scheduled to be held from May 10 – November 10. Azerbaijan is being pitched under the theme “Developing Human Capital, Building A Better Future.”
“For the international community, reflecting on the development of human capital is to study together the best ways to guarantee the benefits of technology for all members of society,” Secretary-General of the BIE, Vicente G. Loscertales, said at Azerbaijan’s bid symposium held in Paris on October 4, according to the official BIE website.
Expo 2025 in Baku would “focus on the human implications of new technology for education,” said Azerbaijan’s Education Minister Jeyhun Bayramov in Paris, “with the aim of enhancing social inclusion, professional development and employability.”
If Baku wins the bid, the proposed site for the expo will be constructed in the eastern suburbs of what is Azerbaijan’s largest city. The 295-hectare state-owned piece of undeveloped land will be transformed into an urban park, complete with manmade infrastructure and natural landscapes.
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