UAE reinforces bid to host 2020 World Expo 

(MENAFN - Arab News) A delegation led by Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, president of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority and chairman of the Emirates Group, has left for Paris to present in-depth insights into the UAE's bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Dubai at a General Assembly of the 160 member nations of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the international organization responsible for overseeing the calendar, bidding, selection and organization of World Expos.

This presentation is the second of five opportunities the UAE will have to formally support its bid to the BIE in the lead up to the November 2013 selection of the host nation for the Expo.

Members of the delegation includes Mohammed Ibrahim Al-Shaibani, director-general of Dubai Ruler's Court, who serves as deputy chairman of the Higher Committee for Hosting the World Expo 2020; Reem Al Hashimy, Minister of State and the Higher Committee's Managing Director; Ahmed Abdullah Al-Shaikh, director general of the Government of Dubai Media Office; and Helal Saeed Al-Marri, CEO of Dubai World Trade Center.

The presentation to the BIE will take place just days ahead of the UAE's special national celebrations at its pavilion at the 2012 International Expo in Yeosu, South Korea, a three-month event that is expected to attract up to 8 million visitors from across the world. Select members of the Higher Committee for Hosting the World Expo 2020 will travel to South Korea for those celebrations, which will be held on June 14.

The UAE's bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Dubai is competing against biddings by four other candidate cities, including Ayutthaya (Thailand); Ekaterinburg (Russia); Izmir (Turkey); and Sao Paulo (Brazil).