Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid gets UAE’s Expo plans under way

The committee will be responsible for drawing up plans to organise the event and outlining the entertainment to be held on the sidelines.

Expo 2020, which will take place from October 2020 to April 2021, is expected to attract more than 25 million visitors to Dubai, of which 70 per cent will come from overseas. Ali Haider/EPA

DUBAI // Preparations for Expo 2020 were kick-started on Tuesday after Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, issued a decree creating a world fair committee to be supervised by Sheikh Hamdan, the Crown Prince of Dubai.

The Expo 2020 Preparatory Committee will be responsible for drawing up plans to organise the event. The readiness and efficiency of the emirate's infrastructure, medical, transport facilities to cope with demands of tourists and visitors will be evaluated and scrutinised by the committee, according to the decree.

Expo 2020, which will take place from October 2020 to April 2021, is expected to attract more than 25 million visitors, 70 per cent of whom will come from overseas.

Sheikh Mohammed’s decree has been described as the first step of Dubai’s practical preparations to host the world’s largest exhibition and the events accompanying the world fair, according to Wam, the state news agency.

Requirements of security, technical guidelines and economic prerequisites will also be looked into by the new committee.

International, regional and local advertising campaigns will be launched to promote Expo 2020 and encourage participation. The campaigns will be supervised by the committee, which will also be in charge of outlining the programmes and entertainments to be held on the event sidelines.

The committee will also be responsible for coordinating efforts of public, private and specialist organisations and companies which will be involved in staging the Expo.

The committee will submit periodic progress reports to Sheikh Mohammed.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed, president of the Department of Civil Aviation and chairman and chief executive of Emirates Airline, was named the committee chairman in Tuesday’s decree.

Sheikh Ahmed earlier headed the higher committee formed to bid for the world fair.

Mohammed Ibrahim Al Shaibani, the director general of the Ruler’s Court, was named the committee’s vice chairman.

Other key members are Reem Al Hashimy, minister of state, Maj Gen Khamis Mattar Al Mazeina, the chief commander of Dubai Police, Hussain Nasser Lootah, the director general of Dubai Municipality, Mattar Al Tayer, executive director of the Roads and Transport Authority, Khalifa Al Zaffin, executive chairman of Dubai Aviation City Corporation, and Helal Saeed Al Marri, the director general of Dubai Department of Tourism and Commerce Marketing and chief executive of Dubai World Trade Centre.

The decree issued by Sheikh Mohammed on Tuesday also called for full cooperation and coordination between all Dubai government bodies to ensure the objectives of the committee are fulfilled towards ensuring a successful world fair.

Sheikh Mohammed said that strong diplomacy had ensured the UAE’s victory during the voting process that recorded 116 total votes for the country in the final vote held in Paris last November.

He has cited the UAE’s achievement as a gain for the entire region since it will bring a global event to a region inhabited by two billion people.

"We have diligently worked round-the-clock to guarantee that the UAE's bid rises to the level of our aspirations," Sheikh Mohammed said after the UAE won the Expo. "The next phase of accomplishment lies ahead. We seek a future where peace and prosperity prevail ... and we will continue to work to achieve that."

The world fair is expected to generate about 277,000 jobs in Dubai over the next seven years.

Total investment in the infrastructure related to Expo 2020 is estimated at Dh25 billion. Energy conservation, collaboration and mobility will be the main features of the Expo site at Dubai World Central.

A large portion of the 438-hectare site’s energy needs will be met using solar panels and the project aims to use recycled waste water and reuse materials in the construction. Several of the structures set up will be multi-purpose and will be re-used for educational and other purposes later.

There are plans to improve rail and bus connectivity in the years leading to the world fair, with the Metro expected to ferry more than 75,000 people daily to the site, and the planned use of some 750 ExpoRider zero-emission buses when the fair begins in 2020.

The world exhibition is held every five years and Dubai won the bid after its theme "Connecting Minds, Building the Future" beat competition from Russia's Yekaterinburg, Turkey's Izmir and Brazil's Sao Paulo.