Analistas Económicos de Andalucía, research company of Grupo Unicaja Banco, has presented today the main conclusions of the report ‘Estudio de mercado e impactos económicos de la Expo2027 Málaga’ (Market research and economic impacts of the Expo2027 Malaga).
The event, held at the premises of Unicaja Banco in Plaza de la Marina, has been attended by Unicaja Banco’s Director General of General and Technical Secretariat, José M. Domínguez; by the report coordinator and member of the Analistas Económicos de Andalucía team, José Antonio Muñoz, and by the Mayor of Malaga, Francisco de la Torre.
The report intends to make an preliminary estimation of the socioeconomic impacts that both the investment and hosting of the Expo2027 in Malaga would have. In that line, it reminds that one of the most relevant topics when considering hosting an event in a certain territory is its economic impact, and it explains that the economic impact analysis seeks to estimate the effects that it could have on the production and employment in the city and in the whole province.
The said estimation should not be limited to the three months during which the expo is to be visited, but it must cover the exhibition planning period, which may last several years.
According to the report, the total figure of visits to the expo may reach 11 million, and visitors may amount to 4.6 million people. The expectations as to the interest and relevance of the Expo2027 project are ‘very satisfactory’.
The calculation of the economic impact that the International Exhibition may have in the province of Malaga has been carried out from the basis of an estimated direct investment for the building and service of the premises of around 700 million. The aggregate direct spending made by visitors to the Expo during the three-month event must be added to the previous amount, and this reaches 730 million euros.
Additionally, a third group of investment and indirect spending must be taken into account. This would be composed by supplementary or additional investment in infrastructure, which has been valued at 140 million euros, as well as other expenditure that the visitors to the Expo may make in the province (outside the Expo building), around 301 million euros.
With all the above, the report explains that the total direct, indirect, and induced impacts of the investment and spending that could be made on the Expo2027 Málaga would exceed 2,900 million euros and would generate around 31,000 jobs.
In short, according to the report, it can be concluded that per each euro allocated to investment and expenditure on this event and its induced effects, a multiplier effect of 1.56 could be reached in terms of production in the whole province. From the side of employment, the gearing effect would be of 1.4 (the effects of the mentioned investment, both direct and indirect, are distributed into several years, whereas the considered direct and indirect spending is concentrated in the period when the exhibition would take place).
The report adds that the above effects would increase if the long-term positive effects are taken into account, once the Expo2027 is over and arising from the generation of new activities, the establishment of new companies in the city, the effects on tourism and cultural activities, as well as the related employment. Those effects have not been considered in this phase of the research.
In that sense, the report reminds that, in the long-term, the development of the Expo will boost both the knowledge and the establishment of new companies and professionals in activities which do not have a tradition in the city and which may be the source of new productive activities for the province and for the region. The acquired know-how may be used as a catalyst for new innovative and technology-based activities, and may contribute to attract investments and talent to strengthen Malaga’s commitment to an economic model that is smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive.
Additionally, the document highlights that there is a clear strategy as to the post-Expo, which considers that the newly created infrastructure and buildings would become productive and educational spaces for Malaga in the medium and long-term. This would give respond to the demand for logistic and business spaces and for educational and residential equipment in the city’s natural expansion area, and in accordance with its urban planning.
Expo 2027 Málaga
'The Urban Era: towards the sustainable city' is a proposal for reflection on one of the main challenges facing contemporary society in the medium and long term: how population growth and urban development can be compatible with protecting the environment and adopting to innovative solutions that guarantee an improvement in the quality of life of city residents.
In this way, Expo2027 Malaga will allow the exchange of knowledge, experiences and very diverse solutions to make cities friendly environments to live and to coexist in while promoting good practices. This global conversation will also showcase scientific, technological and economic progress on this topic.
Malaga, as an example city that has undergone an unprecedented transformation focused on innovation and culture and with a clear commitment to sustainability and the SDGs, is the ideal candidate to host an Expo in which solutions will be announced to meet the challenges facing the cities of the future, with citizenship, innovation and caring for the environment being the focal points.
The City of Malaga, the Provincial Government and the Confederation of Business Owners of Malaga (CEM) have been working for years on the idea of presenting the city's candidacy to host an Expo. Now, they work together on this initiative along with the Regional Andalusian Government.
Presentation of the project to the BIE
The BIE (Bureau International des Expositions) gets to know the project of Malaga city to host the Expo2027. The Mayor, Francisco de la Torre, held in October 2019 a meeting in Paris to announce the city’s intention to lead this project.
The meeting was followed by the visit to Malaga of the BIE Secretary General, Dimitri Kerkentzes, to learn about the city’s offer to host the event. The agenda included a visit to the proposed location (a 250,000 sqm plot in the area of Buenavista, in Campanillas, and the land west and east of the said plot, reaching the 800,000 sqm), as well as two meetings with institutional and economic representatives of Malaga.
Further information on the project here
