DUBAI – At least 192 countries will attend Dubai’s Expo 2020 innovationfair, organisers said Thursday, with the Paris-based global body for themega-events confirming Israel was among the invitees.
“We have invited every country in the world without exception,” organisersin Dubai announced, saying it would be “a truly international event”.
Vicente G. Loscertales, head of the Paris-based Bureau International desExpositions (BIE), said that “by inviting all countries of the world totake part, including the State of Israel, the organisers of Expo 2020 aregenuinely reflecting the universal spirit of World Expos.”
Israel’s foreign ministry confirmed that the Jewish state had been invited.
“We are excited to be a part of (this) common endeavour,” it said.
Organisers in Dubai said that for 170 years, international expos had been“non-political” events.
The BIE describes expos, which follow in the tradition of London’s 1851Great Exhibition, as “large-scale, global events… to educate the public,share innovation, promote progress and foster cooperation”.
Expo 2020, which runs from October 20 next year to April 20, 2021, is setto attract some 25 million visitors to the glitzy emirate, famed for itsluxury resorts and opulent shopping malls.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the organisers’ decisionto invite the Jewish state.“I welcome Israel’s participation in the Dubai expo,” his office said in astatement.
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“It is another expression of Israel’s rising status in the world and in theregion.”
Dubai is one of the seven city-states making up the United Arab Emirates,which do not currently have diplomatic relations with Israel.
But the UAE has recently hosted several Israeli ministers, and along withregional powerhouse Saudi Arabia, shares Israel’s hostility towards nearbyIran.
The Expo 2010 in Shanghai drew 73 million visitors, and Expo 2015 in Milanattracted over 21 million, according to the BIE.
Dubai’s government has already spent over $40 billion on majorinfrastructure projects related to the Expo, including a new $2.9-billionmetro line and an expansion to a new airport near the Expo site.
The mega-event is expected to give the United Arab Emirates an economicboost of over $33 billion, consultants Ernst and Young said in a studyearlier this month.
