DUBAI — All eyes are on Expo 2020, one of the first major global events to be held since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, delayed by a year due to the pandemic. It runs until March 2022 and was built from scratch in the desert outside the city at a cost of $7 billion. It is expected to attract 25 million business and tourist visitors over six months and is the first world expo ever held in the Middle East.
In the first ten days of October, 400,000 people visited the Dubai World Expo. “The opening week of the Dubai World Expo was a real success,” said Dimitri S. Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). “The numbers we are seeing are very encouraging and demonstrate the global desire of people to reconnect with each other and imagine a better future.”
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World Expos are one of the oldest and largest international events on the planet, taking place every five years. Under the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” the Expo aims to showcase the best examples of collaboration, innovation and cooperation from around the world. Its record-breaking 192 national pavilions showcase the work of top architects and immerse visitors in diverse cultures. The UAE Pavilion, a focal point, is shaped like a falcon (the national bird) in flight, with carbon fiber wings and solar panels.
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The event is also an important opportunity for the UAE to shape its national image and promote its modern side and how the country has moved beyond its roots as an oil mecca to sustainable energy and development. Sustainable and emerging technologies are featured in almost every pavilion: the Czech pavilion extracts water vapour from the air; the Morocco pavilion is built from compacted earth instead of traditional steel; and the Singapore pavilion features 80,000 plants.
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In fact, the entire event is a showcase for sites around the world that are learning how to use solar and other renewable resources to generate electricity and recycle much of the water they use. Then, in March, another first: Many of the structures will be recycled to create homes, warehouses and commercial buildings, even hospitals and schools — basically, a new neighborhood that will be right next to the subway.
Contact Dimitri S. Kerkentzes at 33 (0) 1 45 00 38 63