U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with the Bureau of International Expositions’ Enquiry Mission to further discussion on the U.S. bid to host the 2027 World’s Fair Expo.
He met with Secretary General Kerkentzes and the Bureau of International Expositions Enquiry Mission to discuss the U.S. bid, according to an Oct. 14 post on Twitter.
“Good meeting with Secretary General Kerkentzes and the @bieparis Enquiry Mission. We welcome the prospect of the World’s Fair coming back to the U.S., in Minnesota, to tackle some of the world’s biggest health and environmental issues,” Blinken said in the Twitter post.
The proposed location is Bloomington, Minn., the city said in a news release. The theme would be "Healthy People, Healthy Planet – Wellness and Well Being for All.” If selected, the 2027 World Expo would be the first world expo in the U.S. in nearly 40 years.
This expo would be a specialized expo, which would last three months as opposed to six, according to the news release.
Other countries that have placed a bid to host the 2027 Expo include Argentina, Serbia, Spain and Thailand. The expo location will be chosen by BIE via a vote between 110 member countries in June 2023, according to the news release.
President Barack Obama started the process for the U.S. to rejoin the BIE. President Donald Trump signed HR 534 titled U.S. Wants to Compete for a World EXPO Act into law May 8, 2017, the release reported. President Joe Biden signed a memo approving Minnesota as the U.S. bid location June 28, 2021.
Both the Department of State and the Department of Commerce are directly involved in working to bring the Expo back to the U.S., with the DOS having a specialized department focused specifically on the Expo, according to the release.
