Representatives of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) assessing Poland’s bid forSpecialised Expo 2022/23 have completed the Enquiry Mission after visiting Warsaw and Lodz, the candidate city.

Members of the Enquiry Mission arrived in Warsaw on Monday, 3 April, where they met with senior political figures, and travelled to lodzon Wednesday, 5 April. During the five-day visit, the BIE delegation was received by the President of the Republic of Poland, Andrzej Duda, and the Prime Minister, Beata Szydlo. They also met with senior political figures including the Speaker of the Senat, Stanislaw Karczewski, the Speaker of the Sejm, Marek Kuchciński, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski, and the Government Plenipotentiary for the Expo bid, the Deputy Minister of Economic Development Jerzy Kwieciński.

The BIE delegation also held meetings to discuss the bid project with local and regional representatives including the Governor of the LodzVoivodeship Zbigniew Rau, the Marshal of the LodzVoivodeship Witold Stepień, the Chairman of LodzCity Council Tomasz Kacprzak, and the Mayor of LodzHanna Zdanowska.

In both Warsaw and Lodz, the delegation received detailed presentations of the bid project from local and national officials as well as experts in event planning, culture and architecture. Members of the Enquiry Mission conducted a visit of the proposed Expo site, in the New Centre of Lodz, and were invited to discuss the Expo project with members of the local business representatives at a reception hosted by the President of LodzSpecial Economic Zone.

With regard to “City Re:Invented”, the proposed theme for the Expo focused on urban revitalisation, the BIE delegation had the opportunity to meet with art and cultural representatives in the presence of Piotr Gliński, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture and National Heritage. The delegation also met members of the scientific and academic community at the LodzUniversity of Technology, and held a meeting with non-governmental organisations at the city’s Art Inkubator.

The Secretary General of the BIE, Vicente G. Loscertales, expressed his satisfaction at the visit, stating that “if this bid for Lodzis successful, it would be the first Expo to take place in Poland and the region."