Expo 2020 to have a global effect on Dubai
Event expected to create more than 277,000 new jobs opportunities in Dubai over next seven years
HH Sheikh Majed bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Dubai Culture and Arts Authority, has said that Dubai winning the bid to host the World Expo 2020 will have the most ‘global effect’ in the history of the event.
The Chairman added that Dubai was one of the world’s event capitals and that the achievement was the outcome of the ‘positive energy produced by the ideas of HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.’
He said that phase one of the plan to host the Expo was now complete, and that phase two of the challenge had already begun.
The Expo 2020 is expected to create more than 277,000 new job opportunities in Dubai over the next seven years, with each new job opportunity expected to sustain another 50 jobs around the region.
Approximately one third of the world’s population are only four hours away from Dubai by air, while 66% of the world’s populations can land at Dubai’s airports within eight hours of flights.
It is estimated that the total investment in the infrastructure related to Expo 2020 will be $6.80 billion. Some of the facilities built will be permanent and will be utilised for other purposes after Expo 2020.
The expo is expected to attract over 25 million visitors, with 70% of those coming from overseas, making it the most global event in the Expo’s history.
Furthermore, the Expo is expected to inject some $38.11 into Dubai’s GDP, with the city’s trade and tourism set to receive a significant boost, with estimates from the various state divisions targeting 20 million tourists and a tripling of tourism’s contribution to the emirate’s economy by 2020.
From an environmental aspect, the design of the exhibition centre is going to be eco-friendly, organisers have said. Dubai Expo 2020’s target is to produce 50% of the event’s energy requirements onsite, while 30% of all building materials used for the Expo will be made from recycled aggregate content.
Some of the facilities are multipurpose and will be re-used. The proposed period for the exhibition is from October 2020 to April 2021, during that season of the year Dubai has nice weather and many other international events are usually held.
The first “International Exhibition” was held in London in the summer of 1851 under the name the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations or the Great Exhibition.
The exhibition is held every five years and attracts millions of visitors from all over the world.
The previous session of the exhibition was held in Shanghai on 2010 and the next session will be held in Milan, Italy on 2015.