The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council, the ABC Dubai, and the AmCham Abu Dhabi, comprising the leadership of the U.S.-U.A.E. World Expo 2020 Standing Committee, are pleased to share with you the following readout from Expo 2020 BusinessConnect. Hosted on 1 September 2015 by H.E. Reem Al Hashimy, U.A.E. Minister of State, Board Representative of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, and Director General of the Bureau Dubai Expo 2020, Expo 2020 Business Connect provided an overview of the Committee’s Expo 2020 plans and opportunities for businesses to participate, as well as answer questions and gain feedback from the various business councils in Dubai. Ambassador Michael Corbin attended on behalf of the U.S.-U.A.E. World Expo 2020 Standing Committee. Please find his full readout below:
Setting:
H.E. Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State and Managing Director of the Expo 2020 Higher Committee chaired a roundtable of about 45 business council representatives at the Atlantis Conference Center on Sept. 1 at 9:00 am. Manal Al Bayat, VP for Engagement emceed the event and made clear from the outset it was supposed to be a give-and-take session where the business representatives should provide feedback and ask questions. The setup was conducive to discussion as the invitees were seated at tables arranged in a square with The Minister sitting with participants on one side of the square. H.E. Al Hashimy spoke for about 10 minutes and then took questions for more than an hour. Most of Dubai’s business councils (including the Dubai Chamber) were represented and most of the Expo 2020 team was there including contractors for media relations and others.
Summary:
In a session devoted largely to Q and A, Minister Al Hashimy acknowledged that the business community was thirsty for information about how to participate in the Expo. While she still couldn’t provide the amount of information people sought, she explained that a series of Expo 2020 workshops would be the primary means for the business community to engage on the Expo. The workshops would start as early as October, despite the fact that Expo guidelines would not be issued for another 6-8 months (a schedule of workshops, which would be small but repeated to ensure full participation, would be released very shortly). She said companies should register to participate in the Expo using the portal that is now active on the website and that the committee was very interested in feedback and would be flexible in order to guarantee the best results. The Minister said that participation by the business community was vital to making the event, which coincides with the UAE’s 50th anniversary of independence and is to represent a whole region—not just the UAE or the Arab world, a “phenomenal success.” She noted that her organizing committee was focused on lodging, visas, “inclusivity” and sustainability, and was very open to input as the “journey” to Expo 2020 progressed.
Content:
The Minister opened at 9:45 by noting that the Expo is extremely significant for the UAE both because it comes during the 2020-21 50th Golden Jubilee celebration of the founding of the UAE but also because it is the first expo in the Arab World since the events began in the mid-19th century. Furthermore, Dubai’s expo aims to not just cater to nationals and nearby visitors but will represent a larger region that includes not only the Arab World, but also Africa, Central Asia and the Indian Subcontinent. The UAE sees this expo as representing the “south,” or those countries on the path to becoming more developed. Dubai received 116 votes as a candidate city—“a record.” She said the Expo has to be “phenomenal” and the UAE intends for its impact and legacy to be “positive for this part of the world.” Participation by the international business community was critical to this success she said.
She said that the purpose of the roundtable was to answer questions and gain feedback from the business councils in Dubai. Acknowledging several times during the course of the event that businesspeople want more information on how to participate in the Expo, she said the “journey” had just begun and that her team would be “flexible” in working to make sure that business contributes to the success of the event. Addressing a question as to whether the Expo will be an economic success for business, the Minister said that all she could say is that all “good” expos provide economic benefit for the host city–in some cases a 20 percent economic boost. She expected that from Expo 2020. In terms of specifics for the business community, she said the Expo team would launch in October a series of workshops covering 6-8 separate topics such as marketing, communications, banking, engineering, engaging youth, mobility, and others. (A schedule for the workshops will be provided to our members as soon as it is received.) In the Q and A period she elaborated that the workshops would be small–“not 300 people–and would be held several times to give a chance for full participation. Each workshop would be focused on a specific theme for participation but business council representatives were welcome to join any of the workshops. The “Engineering” workshop would take place in January and will cover all aspects of construction and would provide the opportunity for companies to ask questions and provide proposals for innovative and “sustainable” approaches to the infrastructure of the Expo.
The Minister said the decision had been taken to make a special focus on youth at the Expo as this is a young region and “the future is in the hands of our youth.” There would be several programs/initiatives to target youth and the first of the Expo workshops to be held Oct. 5-7 would be on “engaging youth.” She concluded her opening remarks by saying she was counting on the business community to make the Expo come alive. It will coincide with the UAE’s Golden Jubilee, will see 25 million visitors and include 180 pavilions and it was essential that the business community chimed in to make it a success. The Minister used her answer to the first question to remind of the central theme of the Expo: “Connecting minds, creating the future” and the three sub-themes: “Opportunity, mobility, and sustainability.”
In the remainder of the lengthy Q and A session that followed, the Minister made several key points in the following areas:
Guidelines and participation: She said Dubai could only release the Expo guidelines after it becomes the official host city—something that happens only after Milan’s Expo 2015 closes in November and the BIE votes to confirm the decision that Dubai is host. This will take until the end of the year and the Minister said guidelines would not be released for 6-8 months from today. The Expo committee would deal with governments separately from the business community but she understood that each country would decide how its officials and businesspeople would work together on the Expo. Business councils can meet the Expo 2020 team and should provide feedback to the team. Gillian Hamburger, head of corporate engagement, would be the POC for companies and business councils. Companies should register through the registration portal and participate through the workshops but she was open to adjusting the process if companies felt the process was insufficient. The Expo site has been designated as a “Free zone” and would provide special Expo visas for participants that would not have the same “length of stay” restrictions as current visas.
The Expo site: She said that country pavilions could choose how to interpret the theme and/or subthemes, that there would be different size lots at different prices, there were no restrictions on what could be done as long as it fit into the theme, that the UAEG would help fund the cost of individual pavilions for less well-off countries, that the site would become part of the newly-announced “South Dubai” city after the Expo and that development plans were being drawn up accordingly. She said there was no one POC for all aspects of site development and different authorities were involved according to the subject. The site was not being treated as “just another large real estate project,” but was being approached with sustainable principles and values, although the organizers would be realistic in order to ensure success.
Competing to provide services: She said the Committee was open to all proposals—specifically not just established providers and not just the large UK and US firms. She said national UAE firms would not be given priority and that all bids that took into account “sustainability” were welcome. She said “inclusivity” is one of the principles of this Expo and she was looking for constructive participation by small companies and small countries. After all, the UAE was a small country.
Preparations: In response to several questions about housing, she said Dubai was moving in a “steady, healthy, and sustainable” way to double the amount of lodging available in Dubai by 2020. Dubai was also considering non-traditional approaches like Airbnb. The Dubai Government is very involved in planning for the Expo. In response to a question on how the “mobility” theme would be addressed, the Minister said she expected the workshop on that topic to be full of intellectual discussion as the theme covered all sorts of mobility including mobility of funds. That workshop would take place some time next year.
The Minister had to leave for other engagements, but the entire team remained for one-on-one questions.
For questions, comments, and to express interest, please contact U.S. Standing Committee Chair, U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council at info@usuaebusiness.org, or Vice Co-Chairs, American Business Council of Dubai & the Northern Emirates at director@abcdubai.com and AmCham Abu Dhabi at director@amchamabudhabi.org.
