At a cost of up to $7 billion, will “Expo 2020...

$7 billion was the size of Dubai’s spending to host the “Expo 2020 Dubai” exhibition, which opens tomorrow, Friday, with the participation of exhibitors from nearly 190 countries, after it was postponed for a year due to the Corona virus pandemic.

The Emirate of Dubai needs more than ever the desired economic activity from the World Trade Fair, but it will have to deal with the Covid-19 restrictions that still exist, and perhaps also deal with the reluctance of some to travel, as Dubai still officially expects to receive 25 million Visitors, which is more than Expo Milan 2015 visitors, and more than twice the population of the United Arab Emirates.

Dubai’s expectations of receiving this size of visitors to the exhibition contradict what was published by Reuters, quoting diplomats from 5 countries, that they reduced the number of targeted visitors to their countries’ pavilions in light of the precautionary measures related to the Corona virus, which indicates that reaching a large participation is in doubt.

A call to boycott

And in a major blow to Dubai’s attempt to attract millions of visitors to the exhibition, the European Parliament urged its member states and companies to boycott the Expo in protest against the UAE’s human rights record, saying that there is “systematic persecution of human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers and teachers who speak out on political and human rights issues in the UAE.” United States” and the prevalence of “inhumane practices” against many migrant workers.

The UAE, for its part, rejected the European Parliament’s decision, describing it as factually incorrect, and said that “its laws provide for the fair treatment of all citizens and residents,” considering that the European decision “completely ignores all the important achievements of the UAE in the field of human rights.”

Expo is an international exhibition that is held every 5 years in a different country, and lasts for a maximum of 6 months. The main idea of ​​this exhibition revolves around the exchange of ideas and inventions between different countries of the world. It was expected that Dubai would host the exhibition at the end of 2020, but the spread of the Corona virus led to Postponing the event for a year, and this affected the volume of participation in it.

Corona effect

The UAE had set ambitious goals for the Expo, before the outbreak of the Corona virus, and expected that its economic impact would exceed 1.5% of the GDP, with revenues of 69 billion dirhams (about 18.7 billion dollars) in the services sector and organizing events, and 27 billion dirhams (about 7.3 billion dollars). ) in the field of added value for the construction sector and 11.4 billion dirhams (3.1 billion dollars) for the hotel sector.

Economists believe that these goals are unattainable in light of the fragile global economic situation as a result of Corona, as well as the continued travel restrictions in a large number of countries in the world.

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The “Expo Dubai” is witnessing Israeli participation in a new advanced step in the relations between the UAE and Israel, which signed an agreement to normalize their relations a year ago, which led to the volume of trade exchange between the two countries reaching about half a billion dollars, according to data from the Central Bureau of Statistics in Israel.

Under the slogan “Towards Tomorrow” in both Hebrew and Arabic, the Israeli pavilion was established under the auspices and supervision of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, with a floor that suggests sand dunes, and inside the pavilion there are corridors made of a thin layer of concrete and painted in the color of sand.

China has one of the largest pavilions in the exhibition with an area of ​​4,636 square meters, and a pyramid-shaped farm was set up in the Dutch pavilion with edible plants irrigated with rainwater generated by solar energy, as the Expo will focus on sustainable solutions in the fields of water, energy and food.