Staffan Björck - our man for World Expositions
At the autumn General Assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) in Paris, Staffan Björck, Senior Adviser at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs Department for the EU Internal Market and the Promotion of Sweden and Swedish Trade, was appointed chair of the Information and Communication Committee, and thus also Vice President of the BIE. Staffan Björck is the first Swede to be voted onto the BIE governing board.
“The BIE is an international organisation that owns the term ‘World Expositions’, in the same way as the International Olympic Committee owns the term ‘Olympic Games’,” explains Staffan.
In the summer, Staffan was asked by the BIE Secretariat whether he would accept a nomination to the position of chair of the Information and Communication Committee. After consulting with his employer in Stockholm, Staffan accepted. Thus, on Tuesday 24 November, he was chosen by the BIE General Assembly as chair of the committee - which is made up of nine members - and thus also appointed as one of the organisation’s four vice presidents. As chairman, Staffan will lead the committee meetings that take place twice a year. The work will mainly involve providing information about the BIE’s activities, i.e. reaching out to the business sector and the public around the world and keeping the organisation’s 156 member states updated on its day-to-day activities.The BIE determines the guidelines that apply for the implementation of World Expos, and it decides which country/city will be organiser.
Next stop Shanghai
The larger World Expos take place once every five years and the organiser is normally chosen seven to eight years before the actual event. Between the larger events that last six months, smaller expositions are also held. These often take place two or three years after a larger exposition and last for three months. In his role as Swedish member of the General Assembly, Staffan voted for the first time in 2002 on next year’s Expo in Shanghai.
“The World Expo in Shanghai will be the largest ever. So far, 240 participants have registered, not only countries but also international and other organisations. The Chinese authorities are expecting the Expo to attract 70 million visitors,” he says.
“A special secretariat - the Committee for Sweden’s Participation in World Expo 2010 - is responsible for the Swedish pavilion in Shanghai. With his broad experience, Staffan will be acting as adviser to the secretariat.
Text provided by Foreign ministry Press service +46 8 4055730
