Dubai sets up committee to ensure city readiness for Expo 2020

A new ‘city readiness’ Expo 2020 subcommittee has been set up in Dubai to ensure co-ordination between all the local and federal entities ahead of the upcoming mega event.

The committee, set up by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of the Expo Dubai 2020 Higher Committee, held its inaugural meeting last week.

It discussed the development of a plan that highlights how Dubai and the UAE will enhance the visitor journey during the six months of Expo 2020, covering areas such as immigration, transport, events, healthcare and attractions across the rest of the country.

Mohammed Al Shaibani, head of the subcommittee and vice chairman of the Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee, said: “In recognition that a collective effort is required to achieve our goal to host an exceptional World Expo, Expo 2020 has already initiated engagement with local and federal entities.

“In our first meeting, we discussed the concrete steps to be taken to facilitate the work of Expo and to overcome all obstacles on the way to ensuring Expo 2020 is an exceptional Emirati and global event.”

The subcommittee’s members include Reem Ebrahim Al Hashimy, Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau director general, as well as heads of the Roads and Transport Authority, Dubai Tourism, Dubai Aviation City Corporation, Dubai Police and Dubai Municipality.

The expo – the first to take place in the MEASA (Middle East, Africa and South Asia) region – will run for six months from October 20, 2020 until April 10, 2021 with representation expected from 190 countries.

The event expects to see 25 million visits with approximately 70 per cent of the visitors projected to come from outside the UAE – the largest proportion of international visitors in the 168-year history of World Expos.

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