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. Photo: Christian Carlsson
In the autumn of 2002 Staffan returned home from a foreign posting at the Embassy in Warsaw and began working on World Expositions, and other issues, at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. His day-to-day work as executive officer has included preparing decisions on behalf of Sweden on issues concerning current and future World Expos. In his position at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Staffan became Sweden's representative at the BIE and member of the General Assembly.
"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.
"I'm going to be active! I want to improve things, which of course means that I want to make changes, even if that's a major challenge in a large, multilateral organisation like the BIE," he says.
Staffan, who sees the appointment as proof that he has been doing a good job, will conduct his work at the BIE parallel to his duties at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. He believes that the two roles complement one another as he already deals with many issues concerning the World Expos.
"I consider the assignment to be a big plus in my work as it means that we - Sweden - will have a stronger position at the BIE. As member of an organisation we should strive to have as much influence as possible in order to be able to change and improve things. This is one of the main reasons why I accepted the nomination," Staffan explains.
The BIE determines the guidelines that apply for the implementation of World Expos, and it decides which country/city will be organiser.
"When cities have declared their interest and the necessary documentation has been submitted to the BIE, representatives of the organisation go on what's called an inquiry mission to every candidate location," says Staffan.
There they assess how much support there is in the country for such an event by talking to the government, parliament, local authorities, the business sector, etc. At the same time, the practical considerations are analysed, such as airports, road network and hotel beds.
The BIE General Assemby, which meets twice a year, then chooses who will host the World Expo by a process of elimination.
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.
"The exhibition in the Swedish pavilion - on an area of 3000 m² - is targeted at generating interest among the local population, as around 95 per cent of visitors will be Chinese,î Staffan explains.
The World Expo in Shanghai will take place from 1 May to 31 October 2010.
Staffan Björck
Staffan Björck has been employed at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs since 1990. He has earlier served as Head of Press Section at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Counsellor at the Embassy in Warsaw, and is currently Senior Adviser at the Department for the EU Internal Market and the Promotion of Sweden and Swedish Trade (FIM). Cultural promotion and the image of Sweden are his main areas of responsibility. Staffan Björck's appointment as chair of the BIE Information and Communication Committee is for four years.
