Property, shares to gain from win

Representatives from the 167 member nations of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) are currently on a visit to Dubai to witness first-hand the emirate’s levels of preparedness and public support for the Expo 2020 bid.

The delegates will participate in the “theme symposium,” which is an opportunity for the UAE to further showcase how its theme, Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, raises relevant and global issues for the member states of the BIE in order to leave a lasting legacy that directly benefits communities around the world.

Meanwhile, analysts maintain that a successful bid will result in substantial economic gains for the UAE as well as the region, as a Dubai win will see the expo coming to the region for the first time ever.

“We expect Expo 2020 to be a meaningful contributor to the sustainability of the housing market, in the event of a positive bid result in November 2013,” Standard Chartered Bank highlighted in a report last month.

Read: 5 reasons why Dubai property prices will continue to rise 

The results for the bid, for which three other contender cities remain in the fray, will be announced after a vote by 167 member countries on November 27, 2013. Experts see Dubai as a frontrunner in the bid to host Expo 2020, and analysts expect a successful bid to result in a massive shot in the arm for the overall economy, as well as property prices in the emirate and across the UAE.

“Expo 2020 is a universal exposition which five cities have bid to host: Izmir (Turkey), Ayutthaya (Thailand), Yekaterinburg (Russia), São Paulo (Brazil) and Dubai (UAE). Since Ayutthaya (Thailand) was disqualified, Dubai’s chances of winning have increased,” said the Standard Chartered report.

The expo runs for a period of six months, during which time 17.5 million people are expected to descend on the host city. This will also result in a huge growth in the number of jobs generated, especially tourism jobs.

“In the event it does [win], close to 300,000 more jobs could be created with 25 million people visiting Dubai,” the bank said in its report. It added that “90 per cent of the job opportunities would occur from 2018 to 2021, with most of the jobs created in the travel and tourism sector. This indicates a good chance that a high percentage of these will be converted into permanent jobs, which would benefit the expanded economy in the post-Expo period.”

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