Expo 2020 Attracting Students, Professionals To Dubai – Expert

The upcoming Expo 2020 in Dubai is attracting students and professionals from all over the world to the emirate, in addition to contributing to the growth of its education sector, an expert has said.

“Dubai is a very popular study destination for global MBA students, and is attracting worldwide recognition as a global business hub,” said Nigel Banister, managing director, Manchester Business School.

Dubai is also attracting business schools to its shores due to world-class infrastructure, advanced communications, and business friendly environment, he added.

“We can see the positive effects of winning the Expo 2020 bid around the world with an enormous boost to the global profile of Dubai and the country. We see this impact across our international network, with students showing renewed levels of interest in the UAE and the region as a result of the Expo,” he said.

“Dubai is certainly the clear favourite amongst all our centres for students looking for an MBA workshop study destination outside their own regional centre,” he added.

The UAE is not only attracting students to its shores, but it is also receiving huge interest from professionals abroad; a recent LinkedIn study revealed that the Gulf country is the most popular destination for migrating professionals.

The global study, which tracked talent migration among the 300 million members on LinkedIn’s network, found that the UAE gained 1.3 per cent as a percentage of its total workforce in a 12-month period, topping a list of 20 nations.

The industry sectors that attracted the most talent were management & leadership, engineering, sales accounting and lifestyle.

The UAE has attracted more professional talent as a percentage of its workforce than countries such as Canada, Brazil, Switzerland, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, India, Singapore and Australia, the report found.

“Expo 2020 will no doubt create a strong legacy and reinforce the attractiveness of the UAE for migrating professionals looking for new and exciting career and personal development opportunities,” added Banister.