Dubai tops as Expo 2020 bidder

Among four competing cities, Dubai is seen as the best-positioned candidate to host the global exposition World Expo 2020, a survey of 1,000 executives from the Alliance Business Centers Network (ABCN) found.

Among all participants, 57 per cent or 570 executives voted in favor of Dubai, while 18 per cent saw Russia’s Yekaterinburg as the best choice. Brazil’s Sao Paulo scored 14 per cent of total votes and Turkey’s Izmir lagged behind with 11 per cent.

The winner of the bid is expected to be announced by the end of November. If successful, Dubai could potentially attract 25 million visitors to the event, which could last up to six months, and would be the first Middle Eastern city to host the large exhibition.

A number of factors contributed to Dubai’s popularity as the destination of choice in the survey. Some 35 percent of participants found the city's openness and cultural diversity as the main reasons qualifying it to host the Expo. This was followed by the emirate's strategic location as a central tourism and trade hub, its world class infrastructure as well as its political and social stability, scoring close to 20 per cent each.

The survey included 1,000 managers from the ABCN international network spread across 28 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia, including in the three competing nations.

The emirate would benefit economically and socially from hosting the Expo with high expectations of multi-billion-dollar project launches. Close to 45 per cent of executives surveyed said they anticipated new opportunities for growth and the potential of setting up a business in Dubai if the bid ended in success.

“As Alliance operates 650 business centers with 15,000 companies globally, we decided to gauge our clients’ sentiment around Dubai's readiness to host the Expo 2020,” said Sherif Kamel, President of Alliance Business Centers Network for the Middle East and North Africa.

The history of World Expos can be traced back to The Great Exhibition in London in 1851. The event played an important role in social development via art and design, education, trade and international relations, and tourism.

Today, the event occurs every five years and is seen as a good opportunity for global communities to meet and exchange innovations and make progress on issues of international importance such as the global economy, sustainable development and improved quality of life for the world’s population. In addition, the Expos contribute to economic progress and job creation in the hosting nation.

Kamel highlighted the success of the Expo 2010 in Shanghai, which attracted 73 million visitors and 246 nations that participated with pavilions for six months. The exposition augmented the city’s GDP by five per cent that year, and 31 per cent of tourists who attended the Expo visited neighboring cities in China.

It is projected the Expo 2020 will bring in Dh139 billion in revenues to the UAE and create 277,000 jobs between 2013 and 2021, according to a recent study by the UK-based consultancy Oxford Economics. The imoact of this prosperity is expected to trickle down to other parts of the Middle East and Africa region.

“The results of the survey are a clear indication of Dubai's unique position on the world map, thanks to its cultural and business openness and diversity,” said Kamel. “These pillars are the guiding principles that propelled the emirate to its current position of economic strength and social stability, creating an array of investment and employment opportunities for people from the world over.”

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.