Dubai will host World Expo 2020

Now it is officially confirmed that Dubai will host the 2020 World Expo, becoming the first Middle Eastern city to organize the event in its more than 150-year history.

The Gulf emirate bested competing bids from Izmir, Turkey, Sao Paulo, Brazil and Yekaterinburg, Russia after three rounds of voting by delegates of the 168-nation Bureau International des Expositions in Paris.

Dubai, which launched its bid to host Expo 2020 in November 2011, has won the bid for hosting the World expo, also called Expo 2020, becoming the first country in the MENASA region to host the event.

The key theme for the event has been chosen as “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, while the sub-themes are: a) Sustainability – lasting sources of water and energy, b) Mobility – smart systems of logistics and transportation, and c) Opportunity – new paths to economic development.

The emirate will invest AED30bn (USD8.1bn) in new infrastructure apart from other ongoing projects which are of the size of $705bn spread across next 10 years.

The event is expected to attract close to 25mn visitors, of which more than 75% are expected from abroad.

The exhibition is expected to generate revenues in the range of USD25-35bn (25%-40% of the city’s 2012 GDP) and push up Dubai’s GDP by approx. 2% over the coming years.

The event is expected to generate employment in the range of 250-300k over the period of years of which roughly 30-40% would be permanent.

Its multiplier effect…
The multiplier effect of government spending would ripple throughout the economy. It would also be an opportunity to showcase UAE companies to potential customers and investors. Besides the typical benefit of enhanced infrastructure, the Emirates could expect positive global media exposure. The Expo would be a wonderful opportunity to position the UAE as an important player on the international stage. Emirates could show the business world that the country is an open, tolerant, affluent place to do business.