Yekaterinburg aspires to host EXPO-2020

Yekaterinburg - one of Russia's biggest and quickly developing cities in central Siberia, bids to host the EXPO 2020 world economic forum. Yekaterinburg has displayed a colorful billboard, demonstrating its advantages as the EXPO 2020 host, at the St.Petersburg economic forum which opened on Thursday. The participation in the St. Petersburg world economic forum is another stage in the campaign to promote Yekaterinburg as the best candidate to host EXPO 2020, said a source from the Russian EXPO-2020 promoting committee. The city of Sverdlovsk will present its own projects in the framework of the St.Petersburg forum. A delegation from Sverdlovsk is to meet for presentations at the EXPO-2020 pavilion on the premises of the St. Petersburg forum. Nearby are the premises where representatives of the Ministry of Trade and Industry will host their own events. Booklets, postcards advertising the advantages of Yekaterinburg have been circulated among the guests, apart from picturesque videos of Yekaterinburg run on a huge screen. EXPO 2020 if held in Yekaterinburg might be the first EXPO exhibition held in Russia. The Russian Ministry of Trade and Industry put forward an initiative to hold EXPO-2020 in Yekaterinburg after Russia's success at EXPO- 2010 in Shanghai. Russia is planning to hold EXPO-2020 under the slogan "Global Brain, The Future of Globalization and its Impact on the World" Izmir (Turkey), Ayutthaya (Thailand), Dubai (United Arab Emirates), Sao Paulo (Brazil) are the cities which also compete for the honor to host EXPO 2020. The final vote which will decide which of these cities will be honored to host EXPO 2020 will be held at the general assembly of the International Bureau of Exhibitions due in Paris in November 2013.