BIE inspectors in Rome: “The only weakness of this city it’s its great beauty”

ROME, APRIL 22 – “The weaknesses: the only thing that I could say as a weakness is that Rome is too beautiful, and it makes it very difficult for an Expo to compete with what you can see behind me,” playfully said Dimitri S. Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), at the end of a three-day visit to evaluate the city’s candidacy to host EXPO 2030.

Bringing the Expo to Rome in 2030 “is a goal not to be missed”, and the government will do “everything” to center it, said Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni who held talks with the four inspectors. The delegation had previously met other members of the center-right government, including Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonio Tajani: “It is a difficult game but we are we are putting everything into it. We will do everything to support the policy of tourism and major events, including sports events. This is also this a way of doing foreign policy. We have only one interest,” Tajani concluded, “We have to protect 60 million Italians.”

Before the institutional meetings, the BIE delegation had two days of intense visits and inspections. Besides it cultural sites, the inspectors went to Tor Vergata, which will be the heart of Expo 2030 if in November the Italian capital will beat South Korea’s Busan, Ukraine’s Odessa, and Saudi Arabia’s Riyadh. The mayor of Rome Roberto Gualtieri confirmed his optimism: “The visit is going well. The inspectors are interested and impressed by the places we are showing them” and by the innovative approach to teh project which will regenerate an entire quadrant of the city, applying state-of-the-art principles and solutions, totally neutral from the point of view of emissions: “There will be one of the largest existing solar parks that will power an important part of Rome. There will be a citadel of science that will also be open to other countries of the world. Calatrava’s Vele will be regenerated, and that is one of the great unfinished projects of this city”.

The visit ended yesterday on the anniversary of the foundation of Rome. The BIE delegation met the Italian Head of State, Sergio Mattarella, at the Quirinale Palace and concluded the inspection at the Colosseum for a light and drone show created especially for them. (@OnuItalia)