Skeletal steel structures are rapidly taking shape at the home of the Dubai Exhibition Centre, a venue that will soon be the region’s largest for hosting exhibitions and events.
The National was given exclusive access to record the scale of construction at the Dh10 billion project in the Dubai South neighbourhood, which will be the venue for large events such as Gulf Food and Arab Health next year. Senior officials at Dubai World Trade Centre outlined how the space was linked to the emirate’s overall masterplan. The vast exhibition space will have a daily visitor capacity of more than 65,000 people by 2031 and will be the gateway to Expo City, the UAE’s planned first 15-minute pedestrian-friendly city.
Construction is on track for 140,000 square metres to be completed in the first phase of next year. This will allow big exhibitions that have expanded beyond the capacity of the Dubai World Trade Centre to be hosted across both venues, easing the pressure of Downtown traffic. The blueprint includes building residential units, a hotel, business parks and retail space.
Diego Cortese, vice president of venue commercial at Dubai World Trade Centre, said three mega exhibitions - Arab Health, Gulf Food and Gitex - had maxed out the space at DWTC and would be organised at the new DEC next year. "The location is the future of Dubai," he told The National. “We're not just building the largest exhibition centre in the region just to have the region’s largest exhibition centre, but really because this fits into the overall economic agenda of the city of Dubai."
At the site on Monday, about 1,000 workers were busy as steel frames and trusses were erected to set up the north and south halls. Workers in protective gear also prepared a service tunnel being built that will feed water and electricity into the building.
Sense of festivity
This is part of the overall road map announced by Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, for the emirate to grow into a powerhouse in the exhibition sector.
“Over the next few years, the intention is to become a top international tourism and business destination in the world,” Mr Cortese said. “So, it's not just about having more events coming to Dubai, it's also about making sure we can offer the infrastructure for those which are taking place here to grow. Having both the World Trade Centre and DEC will help us reposition and increase space to attract international associations and congresses, which currently we struggle with finding the space to host.”
Events will span the city, lifting the congestion around the World Trade Centre on Sheikh Zayed Road. “For us the future of events is going to be activating both sides of the city at the same time,” Mr Cortese said. “We are very excited, we are in the middle of building the first phase of DEC that will be delivered in January 2026 when we will see the existing building more than double in size.
"The first event moving in will be Gulf Food in January 2026, that will run across both our venues. It will be shortly followed by Arab Health, rebranded as WHX, the World Health Expo, that will run simultaneously at DEC and the WHX lab will run in parallel at the World Trade Centre during the same week. The whole objective in those mega shows is to activate a sense of festivity. These events in 2026 will be followed by Gitex, that is also moving here to DEC.”
During Gitex, the plan is to use locations across Expo City Dubai for outdoor events, dinners and live shows.
Main gateway
Officials are planning spaces to serve the people who will live and work in the area. The community is already well connected, with a Metro station working since Expo 2020 located near Jebel Ali port, close to Al Maktoum International Airport and linked to the road network.
“The Dubai Exhibition Centre is considered one of the main gateways to Expo City,” said Amer Alfarsi, vice president of real estate development at Dubai World Trade Centre. “We have implemented a solid expansion plan. Our aim is to host more international events and to continue with the legacy from hosting Expo 2020 and Cop28. We would like to position Dubai as the global hub for exhibitions and international events.”
More than 2,200 residential units are ready at the Expo Village, a mall has been built, and there are plans to construct a hotel. “Surrounding the development we have different land banks and those are dedicated to mixed-use development,” Mr Alfarsi said. “We are considering building a hotel to service customers who visit the development.”
Unique space
The centre will provide a 1.2km stretch from north to south that can be used for a single event without any columns. It can also be split up into 26 halls with dedicated entrances to host simultaneous events. The plan is divided into three phases with 160,000 square metres to be delivered by 2028 and 180,000 square metres of exhibition spaces completed in the final phase.
“The Dubai Exhibition Centre, by 2031, will be the largest venue of its kind in the Mena region,” Mr Alfarsi said. “We will welcome more than 65,000 visitors on a single level supported with high-level amenities. We are expanding and doubling our events from 300 to 600. It is all due to creativity and innovative design that we can host one mega-event or more than 20 different events.”
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TO A LAND UNKNOWN
Director: Mahdi Fleifel
Starring: Mahmoud Bakri, Aram Sabbah, Mohammad Alsurafa
Rating: 4.5/5
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
Scoreline
Al Wasl 1 (Caio Canedo 90 1')
Al Ain 2 (Ismail Ahmed 3', Marcus Berg 50')
Red cards: Ismail Ahmed (Al Ain) 77'
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The specs: 2018 Nissan Patrol Nismo
Price: base / as tested: Dh382,000
Engine: 5.6-litre V8
Gearbox: Seven-speed automatic
Power: 428hp @ 5,800rpm
Torque: 560Nm @ 3,600rpm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.7L / 100km
The President's Cake
Director: Hasan Hadi
Starring: Baneen Ahmad Nayyef, Waheed Thabet Khreibat, Sajad Mohamad Qasem
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Libya's Gold
UN Panel of Experts found regime secretly sold a fifth of the country's gold reserves.
The panel’s 2017 report followed a trail to West Africa where large sums of cash and gold were hidden by Abdullah Al Senussi, Qaddafi’s former intelligence chief, in 2011.
Cases filled with cash that was said to amount to $560m in 100 dollar notes, that was kept by a group of Libyans in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.
A second stash was said to have been held in Accra, Ghana, inside boxes at the local offices of an international human rights organisation based in France.
The specs
Engine: 3.0-litre six-cylinder turbo
Power: 398hp from 5,250rpm
Torque: 580Nm at 1,900-4,800rpm
Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
On sale: December
Price: From Dh330,000 (estimate)
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THE SPECS
Engine: 3.6-litre V6
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 285bhp
Torque: 353Nm
Price: TBA
On sale: Q2, 2020
THE BIO
Favourite place to go to in the UAE: The desert sand dunes, just after some rain
Who inspires you: Anybody with new and smart ideas, challenging questions, an open mind and a positive attitude
Where would you like to retire: Most probably in my home country, Hungary, but with frequent returns to the UAE
Favorite book: A book by Transilvanian author, Albert Wass, entitled ‘Sword and Reap’ (Kard es Kasza) - not really known internationally
Favourite subjects in school: Mathematics and science
Fines for littering
In Dubai:
Dh200 for littering or spitting in the Dubai Metro
Dh500 for throwing cigarette butts or chewing gum on the floor, or littering from a vehicle.
Dh1,000 for littering on a beach, spitting in public places, throwing a cigarette butt from a vehicle
In Sharjah and other emirates
Dh500 for littering - including cigarette butts and chewing gum - in public places and beaches in Sharjah
Dh2,000 for littering in Sharjah deserts
Dh500 for littering from a vehicle in Ras Al Khaimah
Dh1,000 for littering from a car in Abu Dhabi
Dh1,000 to Dh100,000 for dumping waste in residential or public areas in Al Ain
Dh10,000 for littering at Ajman's beaches
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- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
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What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
Strait of Hormuz
Fujairah is a crucial hub for fuel storage and is just outside the Strait of Hormuz, a vital shipping route linking Middle East oil producers to markets in Asia, Europe, North America and beyond.
The strait is 33 km wide at its narrowest point, but the shipping lane is just three km wide in either direction. Almost a fifth of oil consumed across the world passes through the strait.
Iran has repeatedly threatened to close the strait, a move that would risk inviting geopolitical and economic turmoil.
Last month, Iran issued a new warning that it would block the strait, if it was prevented from using the waterway following a US decision to end exemptions from sanctions for major Iranian oil importers.
Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 760Nm
Price: From Dh280,000
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
