Dubai launches its sumptuous Universal Exhibition at the gateway to the desert – Les Échos

It must be nothing less than “the most exceptional universal exhibition in history”, to the disproportion of a territory of skyscrapers in the middle of the desert. At least that is the promise of Sheikh Mohammed ben Rachid Al-Maktoum, the ruler of the emirate of Dubai. In the presence of the royal family, the kickoff of Expo2020 was given Thursday on the shores of the Persian Gulf, before the opening to the general public on Friday.

“The event is the first of this magnitude, post-Covid. The pandemic has given a new and reinforced meaning to the theme chosen by the Emirates – ‘Connecting minds, building the future’ – while we have all suffered for eighteen months from withdrawal ”, affirms Antoine Bourdeix , communications director of the Bureau international des expositions (BIE), based in Paris.

Additional costs

Postponed for a year at the request of all IBE Member States due to a pandemic, Expo2020 Dubai has not let go of its ambitions. It has managed to bring together for six months more than 190 countries (against 125 in Milan in 2015 in a space three times smaller), including Israel and Qatar, a diplomatic feat .

“A universal exhibition is not just a theme park, with a single organizer. Each country has its commissioner general, who has had to manage its pavilion remotely. Strict measures also had to be taken to protect the health of construction workers. Thus, 5,000 volunteers were equipped with connected watches, in cooperation with the University of Sharjah, allowing their health data to be measured in real time, ”says the executive of the BIE.

“Obviously, the postponement generated additional costs for everyone. The France flag was estimated at 30 million before the Covid, funded two-thirds by the state and one-third by the private sector. The additional cost of 5 million, the State had to bear it. Each country receives a piece of land and is in charge of its site: it has never been stopped, but has suffered slowdowns due to the lack of materials and the closures of links between emirates ”, specifies Erik Linquier, president of Cofrex, the French Exhibition Company.

Renovation catalyst

If the organizers do not communicate on the cost of the event for them, rumors suggest an envelope of 5 to 6 billion dollars, excluding costs related to transport infrastructure. “It is always complicated to assess the cost of a universal exhibition, which is a catalyst for urban renewal, making it possible to build in ten years what we would have built in twenty or thirty: there, the metro was extended by 15 kilometers towards the new Dubai airport, ”recalls Antoine Bourdeix.

The site will be converted into a high-tech district, notably with the installation of the Siemens regional headquarters, as well as an area dedicated to popularized scientific culture, like our Cité des sciences.

Expo2020 still hopes to receive 16 million visitors (and 25 million visits), with 70% of foreigners coming mainly from the Middle East, India, China, Asia, at the cost of strict health constraints: to take a flight to the Emirates, mandatory PCR test of less than 48 hours, obligation to download the Alhosn application (TousAntiCovid local), distance of 2 meters in queues, gauge of 4 m² per person in the pavilions …

Economical restart

“The targeted attendance can be reached, because the Emirates constitute an airport, port and commercial hub. All Emirates flights offer a free ticket to the exhibition and a possible stopover while in transit. The site is very close to the airport, one of the first in the world in terms of passengers, ”observes Antoine Bourdeix.