Expo 2020 Dubai: an open window into the post-Covid world
“In times of great challenges, our societies need to come together, not only to overcome them but also to grow stronger and cooperate better. Expo 2020 Dubai is a very visible opportunity to underline the EU’s commitment to international cooperation and multilateralism as a response to global challenges and to build common understanding on how to do deal with those challenges”, said HR/VP Borrell, who will arrive in UAE today as part of his tour of the Gulf .
A record of 192 nations will be participating in the first World Exposition to be held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region since its creation in 1851. United under the theme “Connecting minds, creating the future”, hundreds of events taking place between today and 31 March 2022 will shape what the organisers have defined as “a world showcase for human achievement”.
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The “EU Honour Day”, on 23 October, will be the occasion to celebrate the EU’s presence at Expo 2020 Dubai along with its Member States, through cultural activities with young artists and cultural professionals from Europe and the rest of the world, to foster diversity and intercultural dialogue.
The EU will also make use of the EXPO platform to boost its bilateral engagement with the United Arab Emirates, as the host country of Expo 2020 Dubai. “The EU is committed to supporting UAE's domestic transformation and economic diversification efforts, in line with our bilateral Cooperation Arrangement. I am looking forward to discussing in detail these pertinent issues with our Emirati partners during my visit to the UAE later this week,” stated High Representative Borrell.
EU at EXPO2020: leading the way to a greener, more digital, more resilient and better world
The activities promoted by the EU and its Member States will focus on five key thematic areas to build back a better world: Sustainability and the Green; Food and Farming; Innovation and Digitalisation; Inclusivity and Equality; and Business and Trade cooperation.
“Want to protect areas like the Palm Jumeirah from rising sea levels? Then we need to take immediate action to stop global warming”. With such concrete local examples, the EU will raise awareness of the urgency of combating climate change and present the European Green Deal, its ambitious plan to make Europe the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, to the world in a series of events. The EU will also display its NextGenerationEU recovery plan as a global example on how to emerge stronger from the pandemic while transforming our economies and creating opportunities and jobs.
A series of EU events on Innovation and Digitalisation will inspire the audience with the vision of a “digital world where personal data is safeguarded, e-education available to all and every household has access to 5G broadband”, a reality foreseen in the EU ‘Path to the Digital Decade’ that aims to transform Europe into a fully digital economy by 2030. Promoting equal and inclusive societies that work for everyone will be another central theme of the EU's presence at EXPO2020, with a series of events on women empowerment and the issue of female entrepreneurship, particularly in the technology sector.
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The EU team at Expo 2020 will be led by Andrea Matteo Fontana, EU Ambassador to the UAE and Commissioner General for the EU at Expo 2020 and by Pietro De Matteis as Deputy Commissioner General.
