After conquering Coronavirus, Dubai decks up to host global trade Expo 2020

Muskan Chhajer, Freelance Writer 

One of the most prominent trading centres of the globe in the United Arab Emirates,  Dubai, is getting ready to host the prestigious Expo 2020 from October 1. Among the first major trade and business expositions in the world to open post the outbreak of the Covid19 pandemic, the Dubai Expo 2020 promises to ‘restart’ the stalled international trade.

All the Covid19 protocols will be in place when visitors start arriving in business delegations and traders from different parts of the globe. Among the first nations to begin vaccination for the Coronavirus, Dubai is one of the few nations that has vaccinated all its citizens, free of cost. Moreover, anyone contacting the virus would be treated at the government’s expense.

The exhibition was originally scheduled for last year had to be postponed after the pandemic broke out in early 2020. According to the organizers, the global event will be kicked off on October 1, 2021, and be open for six months. A grand inaugural is planned, with participation from the biggest of the brands from across the globe, across sectors.

India too has been allotted a permanent pavilion at the trade expo, pictures of which have been released by the government of India earlier this year. As of now, travel restrictions to and from India are in place, but organizers expect that these would be relaxed in time to allow participation of the Indian trade and industry as well.

Participation at the Dubai Expo 2020 is prestigious in more ways than one. Association with the enterprising port city that has grown from a tiny fishing hamlet few decades ago into a bustling hub of global trade, handling goods and services across sectors, is always prized by the participants from around the world.

When it comes to hospitality, the desert state has vowed the world by erecting the best of hotels and entertainment avenues for the visitors coming for trade and tourism purposes. In fact, what visitors like about Dubai is its cosmopolitan lifestyle and a thriving muti-cultural and multi-ethnic diversity that the state encouraged.

Dubai has naturally got the opportunity to host the first World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region and is already planned to make it the largest such an event in the Arab world.

Expected at the Expo 2020 are participants from 192 countries – business delegations, trade and industry bodies, multilateral organisations, and educational establishments.

“The BIE is allowing the world to reconvene in 2021, after making it sure that can address the challenges facing the humanity and come out with lasting solutions,” said Dimitri S Kerkentzes, Secretary General, BIE.

With its main theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future,” the Expo 2020 Dubai will offer the world a unique platform to share the lessons, solutions, and ideas for a better tomorrow,” said Dimitri S. Kerkentzes, Secretary-General of the BIE.

The UAE had reopened for international travellers last year in July itself. An indication that Dubai has read the market correct comes from the rush of visitors to the trading up ever since it opened up the UAE for visitors from July 7 last year. Its hotels and beachfront resorts are full and tourism is booming, again, after a pandemic forced shutdowns last year.

The UAE government has also permitted concerts and sports events, with strict conditions that all the participants and visitors must be fully vaccinated.

The UAE tops the charts in the world when it comes to vaccination rate. Strict enforcement of Covid 19 norms are on across the UAE – with strict adherence to social distancing, masking up, and personal hygiene. Restrictions on gatherings of more than five persons continue to remain in place, for as long as authorities deem it fit.

Dubai seems to have defied all odds and returning to normalcy.

With its world class medical facilities in place, Dubai has laid out a comprehensive Covid 19 response action plan – and the visitors are only eager for the Expo to kick off.

For over a century and a half, expositions like Expo 2020, have been the prime market movers as they present the participants with the perfect launch pad for their products – goods and services – across the world.

Buyers from almost all the countries congregate at the expo, the platform where participants showcase their wares and network with members from other countries.

Expo 2020, organisers believe, will help the people from across the world communicate better and lead a newer, healthier life.

The organisers say they are committed to mount an exceptional event and celebrate human being’s resilience, creativity, culture, and innovation – including remarkable technological advances in the fields of medicine and science.