The Phuket Info Center, operated by the Phuket office of the Ministry of Interior, confirmed the news through a post on its official Facebook page yesterday (Jan 5).
Deputy Government Spokesperson Traisulee Traisaranakul said that the Cabinet had approved the B4.18bn budget for Thailand to host the Specialized Expo in Phuket, the post announced.
The event is to be held under the name “EXPO 2028 - Phuket, Thailand”, it added.
“The Cabinet had a resolution on Nov 16 last year that had approved Thailand to host the ‘EXPO 2028 - Phuket, Thailand’ and on Dec 14 last year Deputy Prime Minister and Public Health Minister Anutin Charnvirakul signed a letter of offer to host the event,” Ms Traisulee explained.
“However, the Bureau of International Expositions [BIE’ stipulates that host bids need to be approved by the budget framework before formal submissions are made by the Office of Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, or TCEB, as the main coordinator.
“It has been carried out in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Public Health to coordinate with the Thai Ambassador-Paris to be the Thai representative in submitting an official letter of intent to host the event,” she added.
The Thai Ambassador is scheduled to formally submit the letter to the BIE in Paris tomorrow (Jan 7), Ms Traisulee said.
“Therefore, it is necessary to propose to the Cabinet to approve the budget limit for this event first,” she added.