Director General of Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau says major construction works expected to finish by October 2019

Infrastructure work for the Dubai Expo 2020 will begin this summer, with major construction on the site expected to finish a year ahead of the opening ceremony, officials said.

Reem Al Hashemi, the Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General of the Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, said yesterday that the project was progressing on schedule, with 1,575 days to go until the event opens on 20 October 2020.

Al Hashemi was speaking at a ‘Meet the CEO’ event organised by the Government of Dubai Media Office, which said the works would begin this summer.

Sites being built by participating countries are set to be completed at least four months before the opening ceremony, Al Hashemi said, according to the UAE state news agency WAM.

Expo 2020 is expected to be the most visited event of 2020, with some 25 million visitors predicted. The site will be part of a new city with its own infrastructure, facilities and services, Al
Hashemi said, adding that she expected the private sector to play a major role in the development.

Over the last two months, Expo 2020 Dubai has signed up three premier partners – Emirates Airline, Etisalat and DP World – in a series of deals worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

Al Hashemi added that there would be specific standards put in place for the event, with sustainability and environmental protection among the most prominent. She said that there would be a public commitment to using 50% renewable energy on the Expo site over the period of operation.