UAE Starts 2020 World Expo Campaign

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched its formal bid to host the 2020 World Expo —the largest rotating exposition in the world — in Dubai. In November 2011, the UAE had officially presented its bid at the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) headquarters in Paris to host the World Expo in Dubai between Jan. 4 and June 30, 2020.

Under the theme "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future," the 2020 World Expo in Dubai will serve as a global hub for ideas and a springboard for creativity, said Shaikh Ahmad Bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the committee for hosting the expo.

The last world expo was held in Shanghai, China where the UAE also took part. The last expo in Shanghai in 2010 generated $2 billion in revenue for the host city.

Dubai will spend $2–4 billion on infrastructure if it manages to host the 2020 World Expo, officials said.

Dubai is competing with four other cities that have submitted bids for the event. They include Ayutthaya (Thailand), Ekaterinburg (Russia), Izmir (Turkey) and Sao Paulo (Brazil).

The winner will be announced by the BIE in November 2013 following a vote by its 160 member nations, said Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, BIE secretary general.

The UAE has proposed hosting the expo at "Exhibition City," a 400-hectare site to be constructed in southwest Dubai. It is adjacent to Dubai World Central, home to Al Maktoum international airport, which will host the 2013 Dubai Airshow.