Expo 2020: Dubai gambles on Covid-19 vaccinations, tests to keep rescheduled event on track
- The emirate has opened the signature pavilion of the world’s fair, which is devoted to environmental sustainability and will, it is hoped, draw 5,000 people a day
- Organisers are confident Covid-19 inoculation programmes will be successful enough to open the Expo on October 1 after the pandemic forced a delay last year
Dubai has unveiled the signature pavilion for the upcoming Expo 2020, the world’s fair that is expected to open on October 1 even as the global pandemic that forced its postponement continues to rage.
The Terra Pavilion, which features a towering 130 metre-wide (426 feet) canopy blanketed with thousands of solar panels, is part of the sheikhdom’s push to rally enthusiasm for the high-stakes expo amid the Covid-19 pandemic, which has pummelled its economy.
The massive structure, devoted to environmental sustainability, rises from the fairgrounds on the desert outskirts of Dubai, where construction workers still scurry around national pavilions in various stages of completion.
A decade in the making, Dubai’s Expo 2020 is expected to draw 25 million visitors and a flurry of business deals. The event represents a US$7 billion bet by the city in the United Arab Emirates to boost international tourism and investment.
The year-long delay puts even more pressure on the event to spur Dubai’s service-heavy economy, which was sputtering before the pandemic thanks to a shaky real estate market.