Filipino involvement in Expo 2020 Dubai to get a boost
Year-long calendar of community events to be released
Dubai: The Philippine Consulate-General in Dubai and its partner agencies will launch a series of community events starting next month to generate interest and get them more involved in the country’s participation in the Expo 2020 Dubai, a top diplomat announced on Tuesday.
Paul Raymund Cortes, Philippine Consul-General, said they have begun tapping into various segments of the community — from the arts and music scene to the business sector and now from the field of sports — to drum up support for the World Expo happening next year from October.
It will be located near the national pavilions of Canada and Portugal
The design highlights the country's diverse natural resources
Expo 2020 Dubai will host the world for 173 days with 190 participating countries.
The expo's theme "Connecting Minds, Creating the Future" aims to create a meaningful legacy that will “benefit generations to come spanning everything from innovations and architecture to friendships and business opportunities”.
1,386sqm
The Philippine Pavilion at the Expo is a coral reef-themed facility called ‘bangkota’ sprawled across a 3,000-square-metre space. It reinterprets the country’s history and beyond.
Community events
“We want to create buzz a year before the actual opening of the Expo. Every month we will come up with community events so that the people are able to understand [what the Expo is about] and generate a sense of heightened awareness about the Filipino participation in the Expo,” Cortes said.
The year-long calendar of activities being finalised by the Organising Committee in Manila will kick-off with the ConGen’s Cup, a basketball tournament for non-professional players from August 9 to September 20.
Winners of the league will get a chance to play with GMA Pinoy TV All Star Team.
Other events are aimed at the grass roots level so that every Filipino in Dubai and the Northern Emirates would own and support the Expo.
'We are all part of it'
“Everyone will be part of the Expo one way or the other. Trade and Investment Secretary Ramon Lopez has emphasised that the reason why President Rodrigo Duterte approved our participation in the Expo is because of the huge presence of Filipinos in the UAE and the region. We are all part of it,” Commercial Attache Charmaine Yalong said.
Yalong said aside from sports activities, they will hold various events highlighting Philippine history and heritage, cuisine, creative industries including fashion and Philippine textiles, agri-products and others.