During the candidacy campaign, the question asked very frequently by delegates concerns the amount of assistance for developing countries.
From the organizer point of view, one of the key success factor is the number of participating countries to the Expos. But some countries need some assistance to be able to participate. This is the main value of those events, the international participation.
The candidate countries need to program a budget in their bid dossier and then present a formal commitment during the Inquiry mission to assist developing countries. Normally, once adopted, this amount cannot be modified, to avoid any escalation of those amounts.
Bellow is a table with the amounts that were presented by the candidate cities since 2012 until 2025. We can clearly see a raise in the amounts and a raise in the number of participating countries. In real terms, the amount allocated to each country do not change. For an international Expo, each country has in average 0,64M€ and for an Universal between 1,82M€ and 1,85M€.
This amount is not money given to the participating country, but is a budget dedicated to provide the services for their participation.
With the clients I have advised, I always explain that it is not about the amount provided, but a question of interest you have in helping the developing countries to participate. If Expos are an occasion to discuss about global issues, then we should take the opportunity of the Expos to have a global discussion with all countries involved.
