EXCLUSIVE Dubai launches bid for World Expo 2020

Last week, the United Arab Emirates (EAU) announced their bid for the World Expo 2020 fair at the Dubai International Airport. The expo with the theme "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future", World Expo 2020 of Dubai, will serve as a "global hub for ideas and a springboard for creativity", according to Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation, Chairman and CEO of Emirates airline, and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Hosting the 2020 World Expo.

Dubai will spend $2b-$4b (Dh7.35 billion) to build infrastructure to host the global event and $4 billion on infrastructure, if it manages to secure the bid for the 2020 World Expo, officials said yesterday.

The World Expo is a global, non-commercial exhibition. Countries have to apply for hosting it and receive the approval of the World Expo committee. The Expo is intended to promote exchanges of ideas and development of the world economy, culture, science and technology, to allow exhibitors to display their achievements and improve international relationships. The 2020 event will have a duration of 6 months (January 4th - June 30th). The exposition takes place once every 5 years.

"What we do have today is estimates of what other cities have spent in the past on hosting the Expo. And the range which we have looked at is between $2 billion and $4 billion", said Hilal Saeed Al Merri, CEO of Dubai World Trade Centre (DWTC), adding that the bid which the UAE is developing is due next year, and will include a "full analysis of the actual infrastructure requirement for the bid and the expected revenue".

Al Merri said that the profits may exceed the investment. "We have a lot of the infrastructure already in place - such as airports and airlines - which works to our benefit, because it would lower our required investments".

Sheik Ahmad said that "Factoring in direct and indirect benefits, Germany's hosting of the 2000 World Expo created more than $7.4 billion in value for that country. The most recent Expo in Shanghai, China, in 2010, generated $2 billion in revenues for the city. Furthermore, the event has made Shanghai popular all over the world, tourism increased 13%, and over 73 million tourists visited China.

• Strong competition

Dubai is competing with four other cities that have submitted bids for the event to the Paris-based International des Expositions (BIE), including Ayutthaya (Thailand), Ekaterinburg (Russia), Izmir (Turkey), and Sao Paulo (Brazil).

With the winner due to be announced by the BIE in November 2013 following a vote by its 160 member nations, Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Secretary General of BIE, who is currently on his first official visit to the UAE since the submission of the bid, said it is very important that Dubai convince the member countries.

Asked what else the UAE must do to secure the bid, Loscertales said: "My advice to the UAE is not to do anything which is only for the sake of the Expo. Do it for the country as a whole and the Expo will be a success."

Loscertales warned: "On an average, the Expo attracts 30-40 million visitors. Expos are a big dialogue of the international community. And a dialogue has to have a serious and important theme. Otherwise, it is a banal event. Our investment has to be profitable so it should not turn into just a one-time event".

• Location is key

The UAE has proposed hosting the World Expo at "Exhibition City," a 400-hectare site to be constructed on the southwestern edge of Dubai, adjacent to Dubai World Central, home to Al Maktoum International Airport, which will host the 2013 Dubai Airshow.

"By 2020, our second airport, Al Maktoum International at Dubai World Central, will be operational", said Shaikh Ahmad.

• The benefits - a boost for tourism

If successful, the UAE's bid for the 2020 World Expo, could translate into huge benefits for the country's tourism and hospitality sector. Dubai International is poised to become the world's busiest airport by 2015 and last year alone, 51 million passengers traveled through the airport. "It is fitting that we launch our campaign here at Dubai International Airport, our gateway to the world," Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, President of Dubai Civil Aviation, Chairman and CEO of Emirates Airline and Group, and Chairman of the Higher Committee for Hosting the 2020 World Expo, said.

"I believe that the UAE will win this bid because of the excellent infrastructure it has. Many investors are waiting to see how things move. And once established, this will bring in more investments into the UAE's tourism sector", George Mousa, chief executive of travel and tour operator Planet Group, told Gulf News at the time of the bid last November, adding that the move will prove to be a big leap for the country's meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions industry.

• Mohammed bin Rashid met with the Secretary General of the BIE

The Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, His Highness Shaikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum last week received Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Secretary General of BIE - Bureau International des Expositions, at Zabeel Palace, together with Shaikh Hamdan Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Price of Dubai, and His Highness General Lt. Shaikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Internal Affairs.

Shaikh Mohammed asserted that the UAE, since its establishment, has been focusing on building infrastructure of world class standards in areas of health, education, sports, housing, services utilities, tourism and exhibition and other facilities of intended to raise the level of civilization.

Shaikh Mohammed said it was up to others, not to the UAE to evaluate the achievements of the latter. He added that he was confident of the UAE and Dubai's merit and worthiness to host the 2020 World Expo, the large-scale, global, non-commercial Expo.

For his part, Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), said he was impressed with the qualitative progress he had seen in the UAE in terms of integrated infrastructure, and the professionalism of its human resources working in the fairs and exhibitions sector. He said the UAE has world class shopping centers, and top transport and communications, especially in the aviation and mass transit sectors.