UK throws weight behind Dubai Expo bid

Dubai: Britain threw its weight behind the UAE on Tuesday as Dubai bids to host the Expo 2020.

In a statement to the UK parliament and in an article written exclusively for Gulf News, Foreign Secretary William Hague said that his country would be backing Dubai to host the Expo 2020 because the emirate deserves the opportunity to share its achievements with the world.

The world exposition has never been held in the Middle East, Africa or South Asia.

The other cities bidding to host the event in 2020 are Sao Paulo, Izmir, Ekaterinburg and Ayutthaya. The idea of the Dubai bid, under the theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, is to serve as a platform for connectivity to help pioneer new partnerships for growth and sustainability.

“We assess that the Dubai bid is exceptionally strong: focussed on global connectivity and accessibility, underpinned by its geographical location and its position as a global logistics and transport hub.

All these would allow exhibitors to reach a large and varied international audience,” Hague said in a written statement to the British parliament on Tusday.

As Hague writes in Gulf News, Dubai is not only a city of Arabia, but of the world, a global hub where cultures, ideas and people from around the planet meet and where more than 200 nationalities live and work.

“Because London has been a global city for hundreds of years, in Britain we can recognise a kindred spirit.”