Ahead of Wednesday’s World Expo 2020 bid selection, the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council’s Danny Sebright weighs in on why Dubai is ‘the ideal host city’ for the global event in an op-ed for Trade & Export ME.
Dubai is the ideal host city for World Expo 2020
By: Danny Sebright
The bid to host the World Expo 2020 should be awarded to a global city – one that connects East and West, as well as North and South.
Dubai, United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), with its geocentric location within a four hour flight for a quarter of the world’s citizens, cosmopolitan population, world-class infrastructure, and proven track record for hosting international exhibitions is certainly deserving of the “global city” moniker. The city, which boasts residents and visitors from quite literally every corner of the globe, is also a finalist to host World Expo 2020 that could host the illustrious exhibition with professionalism and grace today – let alone in seven years.
Dubai embodies the evolving social landscape and blurring of cultures indicative of our current era of globalization. Already a global hub, Dubai will surely emerge as a megacity over the next decade. Dubai, an accepting and tolerant society, is open for business and poised to grow commercially in line with an ambitious federal plan to diversify the U.A.E.’s economy and link up with global supply chains across several key sectors.
Supported by the U.A.E.’s leadership, Dubai’s campaign to host World Expo 2020 that launched over two years ago has rallied a dynamic network of Emirati citizens, international residents, and global stakeholders behind the cause. Her Excellency Reem al-Hashimy, a U.A.E. Minister of State and the Managing Director of the Dubai World Expo 2020 Committee, has worked tirelessly over the past two years to raise the profile of Dubai’s “global hub” status and showcase the overwhelming national pride underpinning the effort, for presentation to the to the Bureau of International Exhibitions (BIE) selection committee in Paris. She has marshaled Dubai, and the U.A.E.’s, key thoughts leaders, business entrepreneurs, and social change agents to put together a blue ribbon bid.
According to H.E. al-Hashimy, a successful bid for the World Expo 2020 would support Dubai, and the U.A.E.’s, population with the creation of approximately 250,000 jobs. Each of these jobs created would, in turn, sustain an additional 50 jobs and boost federal efforts to double global tourism numbers from the current figure of 10 million per year to 20 million by 2020.
Job creation is crucial for the U.A.E., and the broader Middle East region. For its part, the U.A.E. is a nation that is home to a growing, and youthful population – 50% of which is currently under 20 years old – a common trend in the region.
Major infrastructure and energy projects in the U.A.E. set to be online and fully operational by 2020 will be crucial suppliers of jobs. These include the country’s federal Etihad Rail system; four nuclear energy plants that will contribute significantly – along with region’s largest commitment to solar energy – to the national power grid; and large airport expansion projects including the new Midfield terminal at Abu Dhabi International. These aerostructure projects will significantly expand passenger operations and services at newly opened Al Maktoum International Airport at Dubai World Central – already slated set to become the world’s largest airport by capacity, while the refurbishment of terminals at Dubai International will create opportunities for suppliers and contractors across a multitude sectors. Each of these projects will also boost Dubai’s already state-of-the-art infrastructure and ability to host large delegations of visitors should the World Expo 2020 take place in the U.A.E.
For their part, world leaders, senior government officials, and corporate executives, especially those leading operations in Dubai, or the U.A.E, have been vocal in their support of Dubai’s World Expo 2020 bid. Letters of public support from chief executives representing numerous Fortune 500 American firms were sent to the Bureau of International Exhibitions in Paris as part of the official Dubai World Expo 2020 bid submission package.
More broadly, the U.S. and U.A.E. share a strong and growing interest in boosting a bilateral commercial relationship that yielded close to $25 billion in total trade in 2012, making the U.A.E. America’s largest export market in the broader Middle East North Africa region. In fact, many American companies can lay claim to supporting Dubai’s bid through years of providing world-class infrastructure construction, logistics equipment and technology, and developing sturdy corporate partnerships that have helped shape Dubai as a city of tomorrow and as a World Expo 2020 finalist.
Dubai’s integrated World Expo 2020 bid campaign is worthy of praise, supported by key stakeholders around the globe, and indicative of the U.A.E.’s rising profile as a destination and global crossroads for international business, commerce, and tourism.
The other cities competing for the bid – Yekaterinburg, Russia; Sao Paolo, Brazil; and Izmir, Turkey – deserve the BIE’s consideration, but Dubai is the ideal choice to host World Expo 2020.
Danny Sebright is the President of the U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council and a Senior Advisor at The Cohen Group in Washington, D.C. He has been a public supporter of Dubai’s World Expo 2020 bid since the campaign launched.
