The Expo effect — how Osaka 2025 is shaping Saudi Arabia’s business strategy for Expo 2030
RIYADH: As Saudi Arabia prepares to host Expo 2030, the experience of Osaka 2025 offers lessons on how the Kingdom can turn the six-month event into longer-term economic and business opportunities.
Expo 2030 Riyadh is expected to attract more than 42 million visits from 197 countries across a site of nearly 6 million sq. meters, creating a major platform for investment, tourism and private-sector growth.
Osaka’s biggest lesson is that operational and cost discipline matter as much as spectacle.
According to Joseph Salem, partner, Arthur D. Little, Osaka’s experience highlights the need for Riyadh to lock in procurement, use index-linked contracts and maintain a 15–20 percent contingency buffer, while completing key transport infrastructure well ahead of Expo 2030.
