Schwarzenegger to promote California’s bid for 2020 World Expo during trip to East Asia

Governor to promote Calif. World Expo bid in Asia

SAN FRANCISCO — California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to use his platform on a trip to East Asia this week to promote Silicon Valley as a possible location for the 2020 World Expo.

The governor will promote a new plan that would bring the exposition to the United States for the first time in decades.

“Part of the plan for Shanghai is that the governor is going to make a bid for the World Expo to come to the Bay area, more specifically Silicon Valley,” said Schwarzenegger spokesman Jeff Macedo.

Details of the plan have not been released, but the Bay Area Council, a regional business group, has proposed the expo as a boost for the state, bringing infrastructure improvements and promoting global commerce in a region known as a high-technology powerhouse.

The expo, which is held every five years, is a venue for countries to showcase their innovation and technology.

If the event came to Silicon Valley, it would be the first so-called World’s Fair in the state since 1940 and the country’s first since 1984, when New Orleans hosted.

Schwarzenegger will be visiting the Shanghai Expo during a weeklong trip to China, Japan and South Korea that began Thursday. He will be joined by representatives from the Bay Area Council.