On October 1, 2025, the Riyadh Company (ERC) of the Saudi Arabia 2030 World Expo officially launched the global bidding process for the Expo venue infrastructure project, marking the full implementation phase of this highly anticipated national strategic project. This infrastructure bidding will be divided into three main plots, including the main utility corridor, the northern and southern clusters of the natural corridor, and the overall investment scale is expected to exceed 50 billion US dollars.

The 2030 Riyadh World Expo Park covers an area of over 600 hectares and is located next to King Salman International Airport in northern Riyadh. The theme is determined to be "An Era of Change: Joining Hands to Create a Forward looking Future". According to the official plan of Saudi Arabia, the entire World Expo is expected to attract over 40 million visitors, including about 15 million overseas tourists, and create 200000 direct and indirect employment opportunities for the local area. This grand event is regarded as the flagship project of Saudi Arabia's "2030 Vision", which will showcase the country's strategic achievements in sustainable cities, digital economy, cultural creativity, and other fields.

The launch of this tender means that Saudi Arabia will concentrate on releasing tens of billions of dollars worth of infrastructure needs over the next five years, covering multiple areas such as urban renewal, transportation hubs, and energy systems. ERC has released the first phase of infrastructure project bidding on September 21st, and set the deadline for technical bidding and commercial bidding as October 26th and November 9th respectively. Currently, Bechtel Corporation, an American engineering company, has been awarded a project management consulting contract.

As an important lever for Saudi Arabia's economic transformation, this project will adopt innovative PPP and mixed financing mechanisms. The Royal Commission, Public Investment Fund, and National Centre for Privatization have jointly established a three-tier structure of "sovereign capital guidance - international developer participation - local enterprise linkage" to ensure project financing and long-term economic sustainability. Under this framework, contractors, investment institutions, and high-tech enterprises from China, Europe, and the Gulf region are actively seeking opportunities to participate.

It is worth mentioning that after the exhibition, the 6 square kilometer park will be developed into a global village and innovation zone, echoing Saudi Arabia's strategy of promoting cultural tourism and technological research and development. It is predicted that the construction phase of the World Expo venues will contribute approximately $64 billion to Saudi Arabia's GDP, and the subsequent operation phase is expected to contribute $5.6 billion annually. The advancement of this project will further consolidate Riyadh's position as a global innovation city and inject strong impetus into Saudi Arabia's economic diversification. Editor/Yang Beihua