Dubai: Unlike countries that bid for a World Expo to build new infrastructure (such as airports, ports, rail and road transport systems), Dubai and the UAE have a ready platform on all fronts.
Dubai’s strategic global location in the middle of the East and the West makes it the most sought-after destinations for the expo.
There are approximately 200 nationalities living in the UAE making the country truly global.
The proposed Expo site, Dubai Trade Centre in Jebel Ali, is situated next to the new Dubai World Central – home to Al Maktoum International Airport, and is equidistant between Dubai and Abu Dhabi. The site, spanning 438 hectares, is located adjacent to Jebel Ali Port, Port, providing easy access to the 25 million international and local visitors expected.
Dubai’s two airports — Dubai International and DWC-Al-Maktoum International — are best geared to handle the expo traffic in 2020. Dubai International, for instance, will be the world’s busiest airport by 2020 in terms of passenger throughput.
Dubai Logistics City is part of a single customs-bonded free zone linked to Jebel Ali Port, the sixth-largest in the world, and the Jebel Ali Free Zone, home to more than 6,400 companies.
Dubai had around 15 million tourists come in last year, while Abu Dhabi managed to attract 2 million. And the number is only set to grow.
The hotel supply in the UAE is expected to increase at a CAGR (compounded annual growth rate) of 5.3 per cent from 96,992 hotel rooms in Dubai and Abu Dhabi to 125,383 hotel rooms in the two emirates by 2016.
Today it does not take business owners more than three days to start-up their businesses officially in Dubai.
By 2020, the emirate will be able to offer enough transport links to accommodate about 25 million visitors to Dubai for Expo 2020. The mass-transit options will include zero-emission buses, new Metro stations and dedicated lanes on key arterial roads to take visitors to the planned site at Dubai Trade Centre – Jebel Ali.
