A virtual meeting of over 190 Expo 2020 Dubai participants

Published: September 3, 2020

How does the pandemic affect the organization of Expo 2020 Dubai – one of the first events, on a global scale to actually take place in the new reality? How to combine traditional messages with the digital world? Delegates from over 190 countries, members of the UAE government, representatives of the Bureau of World Exhibitions (BIE), and trade partners discussed the new challenges, just over a year before the opening of the World Exhibition, during the first fully virtual meeting of the official participants of Expo 2020 Dubai (International Participants meeting).

Between the 24 and 27August, 2020, several thematic sessions were held, which were devoted to, among others things, the process of building pavilions, the method of managing the facilities at Expo, the calendar of events and also the subject of communication.

The meeting of official participants was attended, among others, by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation; Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, Head of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Sheikh Nahayan Mabarak Al Nahayan, the UAE Minister for Tolerance and Commissioner General of Expo 2020 Dubai, Reem Al Hashima, the UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and the General Director of the Expo 2020 office in Dubai, as well as Dimitri Kerkentzes, the Secretary General of the World Exhibitions Office in Paris

The organizers emphasize the importance of international cooperation for shaping new patterns of social behavior, as well as maintaining the dynamics of economic relations between the Middle East and other parts of the world, pointing to the most important areas of international discussion beyond the COVID-19 pandemic: climate change, health, social inequalities, and environmental protection. The organization of such a large stationary event as Expo 2020 in Dubai, will require not only above-standard security measures, but also decisions on the scope of content presented in the national pavilions at the Exhibition and online.

The meeting of the official participants was attended by the Expo 2020 Dubai Team from the Polish Investment and Trade Agency headed by the Commissioner of the Polish World Exhibition Section, Adrian Malinowski.