Expo 2020 to create 277,000 jobs

The World Expo 2020 could create a staggering 277,000 jobs in the UAE and pump billions of dirhams into the country’s economy if Dubai wins a bid to stage the prestigious six-month event, a UAE Minister was reported as saying today.

Reem Al Hashimi, Minister of State, who heads a UAE national committee for the Expo bid, said the emirate is taking major steps to host the World Expo 2020, which could be held between October 2020 and April 2021 in the area between Jebel Al Ali and Dubai’s Trade Centre.

An estimated 25 million people, mostly from outside the UAE, are expected to visit the event, the largest number of people to come to an expo fair, she said.

She said delegates from more than 150 countries would meet on November 27 to vote on which country will host Expo, adding that Dubai remains optimistic on winning. The other three candidate cities atre  Ekaterinburg, Russia; Izmir, Turkey; Sao Paulo, Brazil.

“In case Dubai wins the bid to host the Expo, we expect it to attract more than 25 million people through its six-month period. Nearly 70 per cent of them will come from outside the UAE, making it the largest Expo event in history by the number of attendance,” she told the Sharjah-based Arabic language daily Al Khaleej.

“Although Expo is a non-commercial event as it is based on learning, education, innovation and cooperation among peoples, this event will bring immense trade, economic and investment benefits to Dubai in particular and the UAE in general.

“For example, we expect it to create nearly 277,000 jobs in the UAE.”

Hashimi said Dubai already possesses an advanced infrastructure for such a major event, adding that the emirate would also embark on a drive to create the proper construction and logistic base for Expo.

She said a master-plan prepared by the emirate would allow Expo to accommodate 247 major participants and 25 million visitors and that a transport strategy has already been devised to cope with such a large number of guests.

Expo Rider

A key transport facility, dubbed ‘Expo Rider’ comprises 750 buses covering 35 stations in all parts of the city while the Metro would be able in 2020 to transport 26,000 people per hour.

Metro trips to Expo areas will have a capacity of 75,000 people a day.
Hashimi said another means includes thousands of taxi cabs and private vehicles and that special lanes would be assigned for them to reach Expo sites.

6.4 billion euros

Asked about Expo’s costs and funding, she said they could be around 6.4 billion euros (Dh30,000 billion) and that the event could be funded through what she described as “effective partnerships” between the public and private sectors in the emirate.

“As for economic benefits, the event will pump nearly 17.7 billion (Dh86 billion) in added value to the UAE economy.
“This means that every euro spent by the host country will fetch back six times to its economy,” Hashimi said.

She said Expo site would have area of around 438 hectares and would be built between the trade centre and Jebel Ali free zone so it will be close to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

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