Dubai: Cultural diversity has positioned Dubai as the top pick to host Expo 2020, according to a survey developed by Alliance Business Centres, a global business server provider that operates over 650 business centres with 15,000 companies worldwide.
The survey in based on information from 1,000 executives from the Alliance Business Centres Network (ABCN) across 28 countries in Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia.
The result of the survey showed that 57 per cent of the participants (including 570 executives) voted in favour of Dubai, while 18 per cent saw Russia’s Yekaterinburg as the best candidate to host Expo 2020.
Brazil’s Sao Paulo scored 14 per cent of total votes and Turkey’s Izmir lagged behind with 11 per cent.
About 35 per cent of participants said Dubai’s openness and cultural diversity are the main reasons qualifying it to host the Expo.
This was followed by the emirate’s strategic location as a central tourism and trade hub, its world class infrastructure as well as its political and social stability, scoring close to 20 per cent each.
Speaking to Gulf News, Sharif Kamel, President of Alliance Business Centres Network for the Middle East and North Africa, said that winning the bid will bring a huge potential of investment not only to the UAE but to the region.
“Forty-five per cent of the participants in the survey showed their willingness to take their investments to Dubai and take part in hosting the Expo 2020,” he said.
“Wining the bid will not be an acknowledgement to what Dubai achieved or currently have but it will be a mutual benefit and it is a gain for everyone,” said Kamel.
“The economic development, social welfare, advanced education, open culture and political stability that Dubai enjoys make the emirate compare to none.”
