Eight UAE ‘Expo Ambassadors’ chosen

Dubai: His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has selected eight individuals to serve as “Expo Ambassadors” to support the country’s bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Dubai.

These Expo Ambassadors, who were selected based on the quality of their submission to the recently concluded “Be part of it” competition, will represent the UAE at a high-level reception in Paris, France, on November 21. The reception will take place on the eve of the country’s upcoming presentation to the General Assembly of the 161 member nations of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the international organisation responsible for overseeing the bidding, selection and organisation of World Expos.

Shaikh Mohammad also selected three youth winners, who will receive special recognition for their submissions, along with opportunities to represent the UAE’s Expo 2020 bid, such as participating in Expo-themed outreach programmes at educational institutions across the country.

These winners, who symbolise the diversity and inclusiveness of the UAE, represent the very best essays, poems, photographs, artworks and short films from among all of the entries submitted over the past four months in response to the question: Why should the UAE be chosen to host the world in 2020?

Each of these winning entries — along with all other submissions entered throughout the “Be part of it” competition — can be viewed on the Expo 2020 website (www.expo2020dubai.ae). Dubai, UAE is competing against four other candidate cities bidding to host the 2020 World Expo, including Ayutthaya, Thailand; Ekaterinburg, Russia; Izmir, Turkey; and Sao Paulo, Brazil. The winning city will be announced in November 2013 following a vote by the 161 member nations of the BIE.

The eight Expo Ambassadors include:

• Sara Al Boom, UAE — short film

• Khawla Darwish, UAE — art

• Marwan Al Haj, UAE — essay

• Adel Ebrahim, Comoros — art

• Mohammad Al Janabi, Iraq — photography

• Jasem M, India — art

• Eenas Al Sheakh, Egypt — poetry

• Ben Ouattara, Germany — film

The three youth winners include:

• Maathangi Anirudh, India — art

• Ayesha Khan, India — poetry