THAILAND officially submitted its bid to organise World Expo 2020 at the 149th General Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris last week.
This comes less than two months after Turkey tabled the first bid on May 2.
Both countries made their initial presentations at the assembly, which was attended by representatives from 157 BIE member countries. Thailand has proposed Ayuthaya as its host city (TTG Asia e-Daily, April 5), while Turkey has suggested Izmir.
Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau president, Akapol Sorasuchart, said the event presented an opportunity for Thailand to create a good first impression on representatives from member countries, who will be casting votes to pick the World Expo venue.
Akapol said Thailand would begin its campaign to secure votes from member countries ahead of its second presentation, scheduled to take place at the 150th General Assembly for BIE in November.
The bidding deadline for World Expo 2020 is November 2. Other countries considering whether to bid to host World Expo 2020 include the US (Houston, San Francisco), Australia (Brisbane), Brazil (Rio de Janiero, Sao Paulo), Canada (Montreal), Denmark (Copenhagen), Russia (St Petersburg) and UAE (Dubai).
The BIE will announce the host city in 2014.
By Sirima Eamtako
