News: Congratulations! The UAE wins hosting right for World Expo 2020

The World Expo 2020 will be held in Dubai under the theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, as announced by the Bureau International des Exhibitions (BIE) following voting by its member nations. It will be the first World Expo for the Middle East, North Africa and South Asia (Menasa) region, helping to unlock the vast potential of this area and creating significant opportunities for its more than two billion people.

Under the theme, 'Connecting Minds, Creating the Future', Dubai Expo 2020 will provide unprecedented opportunities for visitors, participants and for the member nations of the BIE.”  

Yesterday, Nov 27, votings took place at the General Assembly Of The Bureau International Des Expositions in Paris, France where the UAE ranked first in the first round of voting to select the host city for the World Expo 2020.

As soon as the first round results were announced, residents poured out onto the streets in an impromptu anticipatory celebration that erupted across the UAE.

The UAE topped the list with 77 votes out of 165, making it a 47.24 per cent vote.

Second was Ekaterinburg with 39 or 23.93 per cent of the votes.

Third was Izmir with 33 or 20.25 per cent votes followed by Sao Paulo with 7.98 per cent votes.

That meant that Sao Paulo in Brazil, the fourth place candidate city, was the first to go out of the race.

Voting then began for the second round to select the host city from among the top three candidate cities - Dubai in UAE, Ekaterinburg in Russia and Izmir in Turkey.

Again, Dubai came first in Round 2 of voting with 87 votes in its favour accounting for 52.73 per cent of the total votes cast.

Ekaterinburg had come in second with 24.85 per cent of the vote.

Izmir in Turkey was eliminated after getting 21.82 per cent of the vote.

It was now between Ekaterinburg and Dubai which went head-to-head in the final round. In the end and final round, Dubai, UAE  beat Ekaterinburg, Russia receiving 116 votes out of a total of 165! The result brings to a close two years of hardwork and planning for staff at the Dubai campaign, and has set the economy up for seven years of growth as those plans take root.

Winning Expo2020 adds to our joy of celebrating the UAE’s National Day on the 2nd of December. For a country that is only 42 years old, you have to admit they have done well. The nation is ready to welcome the world in 2020, on the eve of their 50th anniversary.

As a result of this, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid, the UAE Vice President and Ruler of Dubai, announced that Thursday November 28, will be a holiday for all educational institutions across the UAE.

The celebrations and fireworks across the UAE and in Paris were second to none. Dubai’s expo bid actually reached 850 million people via social media. Dubai authorities expect the Expo 2020 will generate $23 billion between 2015 and 2021, and estimate it will cost $8.4 billion to organize.

Mabrouk Dubai!