The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) held its 173rd General Assembly on 28th November 2023, in Paris, France where Her Excellency Ms. Karen-Mae Hill, High Commissioner for Antigua and Barbuda, was elected as President of the Administration and Budget Committee. The Administration and Budget Commission is one of four of the Bureau’s main committees and is comprised of representatives from nine Member States to include Andorra, Angola, Bangladesh, Cyprus, France, Gabon, Switzerland and Turkmenistan. The Commission’s main functions are to prepare the annual budget of the BIE and to guarantee compliance with the budget. The President of each commission is elected for a period of two years from among the delegates of the Member States and he or she is eligible for a second period of two years, without interruption. The Presidents of the committees are also the Vice-Presidents of the General Assembly of the BIE. The other three committees are the Executive Committee, the Rules Committee, and the Information
and Communication Committee. High Commissioner Hill also completed one term on the Information and Communication Committee.

Delegates representing the 179 Member States of the BIE attended the Assembly which included progress reports on upcoming Expos, presentations from candidates for World Expo 2030 and culminated in the overwhelming election of Saudi Arabia as the 2030 host.

The BIE is the Intergovernmental Organisation in charge of overseeing and regulating all international exhibitions that last more than three weeks and are of non-commercial nature (“Expos”). Today, 4 types of Expos are organised under its auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano.