Arab countries back UAE bid for Expo 2020

The UAE’s bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Dubai was backed by other Arab countries at a Pan-Arab meeting in Cairo. Thanks to efforts by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs both regionally and internationally to mobilise support for the bid, the Council of the Arab League Foreign Ministers, at its recent 137th session in Cairo, announced its support to the UAE which has launched an official campaign to host the global event in Dubai. Dubai is vying to be the host to the world’s largest rotating global exposition and is competing with Ayutthaya (Thailand), Ekaterinburg (Russia), Izmir (Turkey) and Sao Paulo (Brazil). Under the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”, World Expo 2020 in Dubai aims to serve as a global hub for ideas and a springboard for creativity. During his recent visit here, Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) secretary-general Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales said he was impressed with the qualitative progress he had seen in the UAE in terms of integrated infrastructure, and its professional human resources on Meetings, Incentives, Conferences and Exhibitions (MICE). He said the UAE has world class shopping centres, and transport and communications modes, especially in the aviation and mass transit sectors.