November 27th 2013 was a great day for the GCC countries and especially for UAE. After an exciting night of voting in Paris, Dubai won the hosting of the World Expo in 2020. Dubai’s performance improved with every level of voting, until it ended up on top of the ranking in front of Russia and Turkey, the two biggest competitors. But how exactly will this expo benefit the region and UAE?
What is World Expo?
World Expo 2020 is a large and public fair that takes place every 5 years and where participants from all the industries exhibit their products. The first World Fair took place in London, UK, in 1851, under the title “Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations”. The Great Exhibition was considered as the first international expo of manufactured products and was the most popular fair due to the development achieved on several aspects of society. This expo continues to take place till today, but under a different name; World Fairs or World Expo. The coming editions of this exhibition will be held in Milan, Italy (2015) and Dubai, UAE (2020).
How can the MENA’s interiors and furniture industries benefit from Dubai Expo 2020?
After the bid announcement, the government alongside the retail, residential and hospitality industries have started their journey toward the Dubai World Expo 2020. This event is a great opportunity for furniture suppliers and interior design companies as they will be highly solicited to equip the Expo and the city’s hospitality plan. Three megaprojects are set to cater for the visitors of the fair:
1) The Expo site: The construction and fit-out of 438 hectar space financed by the Government of Dubai within a $8.8 billion budget.
2) Mohammed bin Rashid City: The acceleration of the retail, residential and hospitality projects within the +$60 billion budget of the megaproject.
3) The Dubai World Trade Central: The acceleration of the retail, residential and hospitality districts within the +$31 billion budget of the megaproject.
The construction of 60 new hotels to welcome the expected 25 million visitors offer the indoor and outdoor furniture stores in UAE and specially in Dubai wide opportunities. Over 450 new restaurants will open, and many existing ones will want to renew their decoration and give a better image with new indoor and outdoor furniture. Experts foresee a huge development in the furniture manufacturing industry. However, they are not the only ones benefiting from this expo. The media, telecommunications, tourism and education sectors will also be experiencing a noticeable development. This will obviously result in boosting up the economy of UAE. And according to some experts, the expo hosted in Dubai will also give a push to the economy of neighboring GCC countries, which may also benefit the interiors and furniture manufacturers in countries like KSA, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait etc. Any business who can get involved in this Great Exhibition, will try to participate as it will grant big exposure.
We, at Skyline Design, an outdoor luxury furniture manufacturer, are looking forward for the implementation of these construction projects. Therefore, we started preparing teams to supply hotel and restaurant furniture with the emerging demand of the event. We hope this exhibition will open a door for us to expand more in GCC and the Middle East.