Senior official says all assets will remain after the event including the buildings and transport infrastructure
Eighty percent of Dubai's Expo 2020 site will be re-developed in a bid to ensure the mega event has a strong legacy in the emirate, it has been announced.
All Expo assets and infrastructure will remain operational after the six-month Expo ends in April 2021 while global giant Siemens will re-locate its headquarters to the site.
Expo 2020 Dubai's strategy was revealed during a session of the Arabian Travel Market Global Stage.
Marjan Faraidooni, SVP, Legacy Developments & Impact, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: “We planned the Expo with two missions in mind. The first is to make sure the visitor has an unforgettable experience from the second they step foot in Dubai until they leave.
“The second mission is the legacy question, Expo 2020 is being built with legacy in mind and all assets will remain after the event including the buildings and transport infrastructure.”
Last year, Expo 2020 Dubai awarded over 1,200 contracts, worth $544.5 million and a further 47 construction contracts worth $3 billion are due to be awarded in 2017.
Faraidooni said plans for the site after Expo 2020 concludes will see 80 percent of the plot re-developed with all Expo’s assets and transport infrastructure re-purposed for future use by a range of tenants and major private sector firms.
Siemens became the first firm to announce plans earlier this year, when it confirmed its global headquarters for airports, cargo and ports logistics, will be based out of the Expo 2020 site from 2021.
Faraidooni added: “The first Expo in London had one of the most enduring legacies and we will celebrate this in many ways during Expo 2020, including a 24-hour celebration of New Year's Eve on December 31, 2020, uniting the 200 nationalities who call Dubai home and the 25 million people we will welcome to Dubai that year.
“The legacy that we will leave behind is bringing Expo to a truly global audience, to inspire visitors to return to Dubai time and time again.”
Between October 2020 and April 2021, Expo 2020 Dubai is expected to welcome more than 180 nations and an international audience of 25 million visitors.
Expo 2020 is scheduled to be hosted by Dubai in an area next to Jebel Ali. Spanning 438,000 square metres, Dubai Expo 2020 will be 10 percent larger in size than Milan Expo 2015.
UAE officials are expecting the event to create 277,000 jobs, most of which will be in the tourism industry.
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