Every few weeks, Aleksandar Vucic tours the EXPO 2027 site outside Belgrade and posts updates online. In late July, he stood next to tall steel plinths while trucks moved sand around areas slated for future national pavilions. He described it as an "engine that will drive development," arguing it will boost industries including hospitality and tourism as well as construction, transport and trade. The investment totals about $2.4 billion and is widely viewed inside Serbia as his signature project.
The exhibition grounds cover 25 hectares once used as farmland. The state company overseeing EXPO 2027 says Serbia has allocated €1.23 billion for the fairgrounds and another €700 million for related infrastructure. PowerChina is the main contractor.
Director Danilo Jerinic said Serbia asked the company to bring in an additional thousand workers to have pavilions ready by December, and that more than 4,000 workers are on site in a 24-hour, three-shift rotation. "It's been an enormous challenge but the benefits are even bigger," he said.
Fees for the brand ambassadors have not been disclosed, and organizers say unspecified sponsors will cover the celebrities' pay.
Promoted as the biggest regional event since the 1990s wars in the Western Balkans, the three-month expo ends in August and is built around the theme "Play for Humanity: Sport and Music for All." More than 140 countries are expected, and attendance is projected at about 1.6 million. Brand ambassadors include Jackie Chan, Usain Bolt, Lin Dan and Serbia's former world No. 1 tennis player Jelena Jankovic.
When the exhibition concludes, the plan is to convert the grounds into a new suburb with thousands of apartments, schools, retail and office space, and a rail connection to Nikola Tesla airport. The Sava River embankment is slated to be reinforced with a port to open a water route to central Belgrade. A 52,000-seat stadium is due in 2028, with the goal of hosting the UEFA Europa League final the following year.
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Beyond the main grounds, roughly 700 hectares in the vicinity are slated for allocation to private firms, chiefly real estate developers. Jerinic said "the EXPO will be an example of how to activate a completely new location in a city," and officials say the planned buildout is a deliberate shift away from the informal, unplanned construction that produced shanty town-style suburbs in past decades.
Vucic aims to carry the project to completion, but he and his Progressive Party must first win the snap parliamentary election on Oct. 25. He has said he plans to resign the presidency and pursue the prime minister's job to retain control in a nation with 6.6 million residents. Several surveys point to a tight race.
He has dominated politics for more than a decade, a period in which Serbia drew more foreign investment than any other economy in the western Balkans, while he balanced relationships with the European Union, Russia, China and the US. The economy roughly doubled to around $99.95 billion. Yet public dissatisfaction has risen. In the last two years, student-led demonstrations have grown into a broad alliance that is now contesting elections; their platform promises anti-corruption measures, stronger legal safeguards with an independent judiciary, expanded labor rights, and improved access to health care and education.
EXPO 2027 has become a focal point for critics. A quintet of smaller opposition parties, including the People's Movement of Serbia, petitioned the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions to call off the exhibition, warning of "risks to the security and health" of participants. They cited the 2024 collapse of a concrete canopy at a renovated train station that killed 16 people. A European Parliament report last year urged participants to "take into account the serious concerns and evidence of widespread corruption linked to the ruling authorities, as well as the reported lack of compliance with basic construction standards and legal requirements in the organization and construction." Authorities dismissed the allegations as politically motivated and baseless.
Supporters highlight the potential payoff. EXPO 2027 expects around 1.6 million visitors. Belgrade-based consultancy Louis Berger Adria estimates the exhibition could boost the economy by more than €9 billion in added value by 2037 and bring in €3.8 billion in tax receipts over a 10-year span, with each dinar of public spending potentially yielding 1.91 dinars in tax revenue alongside employment gains.
For everyday savers, the subtext is simple. When a small economy lines up a mega project, it can reshape jobs, tourism and housing for years. Keeping an eye on those shifts can help you connect the headlines to your own budget and future plans.
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