Expo Dubai 2020 guaranteed to be 'most inclusive'

Dubai - Collaboration helps shape theme of mega event; every single nation gives valuable insights

The UAE intends to make Expo 2020 Dubai the most inclusive World Expo ever staged, Reem Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Cabinet Member, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director-General of Bureau Expo Dubai 2020, said on Tuesday.
Addressing delegates at the International Planning Meeting, or IPM, Al Hashemi said collaboration has shaped the Expo's theme and every single nation here has valuable insights and experiences to offer the world.
"We need to hear them, our tens of millions of visitors will need to see and understand them. The Expo is a tool, a powerful live vehicle for communicating the best of what your nation has to offer," she said.
"To have the Pacific Islands, to have Scandinavia, to have Western Europe, to have the Americas, to have Africa all coming together talking about what their aspirations for Expo 2020 can be, and how they would want to play an integral part in it, is a true and remarkable privilege."
At the Expo 2020 Dubai IPM, more than 370 senior representatives from around the world were presented with the organisers' vision of an event that is a festival of human ingenuity. The two-day meeting that ended on Tuesday featured 14 in-depth sessions covering Expo 2020's legacy, theme, and master plan, as well as the city's readiness to host the global mega event.
The aim of the IPM was to engage with potential participant countries and promote the opportunity to take part in Expo 2020 Dubai, and demonstrate the UAE's enthusiasm and readiness for the mega event.
The countries represented included India, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan, France, Germany, the Philippines, Canada, Australia, Russia, the UK and Ireland, as well as many African states including Mozambique, Uganda and Sierra Leone, and small-island nations such as Samoa, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. There was also strong representation from the Middle East.
The secretary-general of the BIE, Vicente G. Loscertales, commended Expo 2020 Dubai on hosting its first IPM and said the international representatives were impressed by the plans they saw, and the level of integration and cooperation across the many government bodies involved in the delivery of a project of this scale.
"The potential participants also now have a clear sense of the organiser's vision for this Expo to be a truly international platform for collaboration, with a global legacy benefits each participant nation."
Barbara A. Leaf, the United States Ambassador to the UAE, expressed her excitement: "What I just saw, in the initial presentation on the Expo, was frankly dazzling. It was magical and it makes me want to be a part of it."
Dionyssios Zois, Ambassador of Greece, said: "Words are not enough to describe what I saw today. It is extremely impressive and warmest congratulations to Shaikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Preparatory Committee, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman of Emirates airline and Chief Executive of the Emirates Group; Reem Ibrahim Al Hashemi; and the whole team. This is professional work, with great inspiration, and I think that if the [national] capitals see the videos we just saw, no one would like to be absent from this great event. I wish congratulations to Expo 2020 and I'm certain it will be the best ever Expo we have witnessed."
Expo 2020 Dubai's theme, "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future", recognises that generating sustainable solutions to global problems demands collaboration across cultures, nations and regions. It is a reflection of the modern world: connected as never before, and changing with great speed.
Representatives at the IPM will be able to think about how their nation can showcase its contribution to global thinking on this theme. Participants of IPM also learned how the site masterplan for Expo 2020 Dubai symbolises the power of collaboration and connections in addressing some of the world's major challenges in the 21st century.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com