The Impact of Dubai 2020 Expo on UAE Economy

An Expo aims to share the diverse innovation and ideas with the invited nations, companies and the international organizations.The invited parties in the Expo celebrate other cultures and foster cooperation amongst each other. The invited nations dialogue with each other to seek solutions to some of the challenges that affect the humanity. During the meeting held in Paris 2013, Dubai won to host the 2020 Expo. The legacy was to bolster the economy in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and improve the international relations with other nations. An Expo meeting has an impact on a variety of parties, which are; the host nation, International community, participants and the general public. The encompassing of the commercial activities to promote the transfer of ideas, resources, goods, and services define the international business. During the international study tour in Abu Dhabi, I chose on if the Dubai 2020 Expo is aiding the United Arab Emirates in diversifying its economy and attracting the international business. This essay gives an opinion on the influence the Dubai 2020 will impact on helping the UAE to expand its national economy and attracting the global market.

Sharing of ideas

According to Ian (2017), the theme of the Dubai Expo 2020 will be creating the future and connecting minds with the invited nations to boost the economic sectors (p.3). The Expo is a converging zone of some super countries, which are of high pedigree regarding trading matters. The United Arab Emirates will be exposed to the public with the help of the Dubai 2020 Expo to trade technology, knowledge, goods, and services at a global level. Through a series of meetings that will be held by the visiting countries with different business sectors of the United Arab Emirates outfit, it will market UAE to improve international relationships with some of the leading nations.

Creation of Investments Opportunities

The Expo is creating investment opportunities to UAE region. Expo is the third largest global event after the Olympics, and the World cup shows how much influence it has on the international business. The strategic location of Dubai in the Middle East helps in efficient in accessing the Middle Eastern, European and the Asian markets (Waqas, 2017, p 2). Investors find it easy to invest in the UAE region, which leads to the improved international business relationship with other nations. The presence of the 2020 Expo is motivating Dubai to improve its vibrant tourism industry to ensure that by the time the event will commence the visitors will have some great experiences. Tourism attracts foreign investors from all over the world to be part of the process. For example, some investors may build some of the hotels and accommodation facilities that suit various walks of life without inconvenience.

Technology Exportation

Technology is one of the core factors that the growth of international business on the global level. The issuance of Expo 2020 to Dubai has influenced the technological improvement of the UAE region regarding communication and the infrastructure sector (Carter, 2015, p 14). The fact that international business involves the trading of goods, services, and technology support the aid of Dubai 2020 Expo to the region. High tech in building the modernized transport systems and communications means attracts a variety of enterprises, companies, and organizations to emulate it to their residence. UAE can now export their technology to the interested and attracted organizations for their services across the world, the exportations lead to the growth of the international business.

Economy Diversification

Diversification in economy entails practicing of various economic acts to avoid disastrous economic slump at once. A thriving economy should ensure that it manufactures a variety of goods, sell a variety of merchandise and invest in different sectors (Shenkar, Luo, and Chi 2014, p. 320). The Dubai 2020 Expo is helping UAE in the diversification of the economy by offering availing different services that will suit the visiting countries and organization at the event. The UAE enjoys a comparative advantage over the visitors that will visit the place when the Expo begins in 2020. The UAE region can now export their goods and services to the visitors at a higher cost compared to the production cost. The Expo is attracting a variety of markets to the UAE oil sector that represents almost a third of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) (Alfaki and Ahmed 2017, p. 10). Oil exports have increased due to the increased demand from the confirmed attendance of the event, for this reason, UAE economy is growing.

Improving Real Estate and Vehicle Leasing Sector

Among the weaknesses of the UAE are the real estate services and the vehicle leasing services (Huston and Han 2018, p. 4). The 2020 Expo will host a massive population of over 25 million guests from the October 2020 to April 2021 who will require the vehicle leasing services. On top of that, responsible authorities in the real estate sector are awarding mega contracts to some of the experts to improve the industry before the big event commences in 2020. The construction of the modern housing facilities that will accommodate the visitors at the Expo attracts jobs to the residents of the UAE region and improves their lives in return. The motor vehicle industry is also designing modern vehicles to enhance their vehicle-leasing sector; this is diversifying the economy of the region.

Tourism and Hospitality Sector

An estimated population of 17 million international visitors will tour Dubai when the event starts in October 2020. The tourism sector will be one of the attractive areas during the event. The visitors will provide a massive boost to the tourism industries, which will improve the UAE economy. For occupancy services, quality hotels are built near the tourism sites, which will accommodate the visitors for the duration they will be attending the event (Jauncey and Nadkarni 2014, p. 381). Consequently, the visiting population will also have something unique that will help improve the Dubai tourism industry and diverse it to higher standards.

Conclusion

The Dubai 2020 Expo is aiding the United Arab Emirates in attracting the international business and diversifying its economy. To draw the international trade, the Expo is creating investments in the region due to its strategic geographic location and the proximity to some of the European and Asian markets. In economy diversification, the Expo is helping in making the existing dominant sectors better than they were previously, for example, the tourism and hospitality sector that attracts many visitors. The Expo is leading to the revival of dormant areas, for example, the real estate and the vehicle leasing industry. The Dubai 2020 Expo is helping to diversify economic sectors of UAE better to prevent it from suffering a disastrous slump even if one of the segments fails.

References

Alfaki, I. and Ahmed, A., 2017. From oil to knowledge: transforming the United Arab Emirates into a knowledge-based economy. London: Routledge.

Callen, M.T., Cherif, R., Hasanov, F., Hegazy, M.A. and Khandelwal, P., 2014. Economic diversification in the GCC: Past, present, and future. International Monetary Fund.

Carter, R.J., 2015. Dubai: Past and Present Architecture in the Context of National Identity and Economic Development. Transformation of the urban character of Arab Cities since the late last century, vol. 14, p.14.

Huston, S. and Han, H., 2018. Designing Transparent Real Estate Open Data Systems: Sydney, Dubai, and London. Melbourne: Palgrave Macmillan.

Ian Oxborrow Dubai Expo 2020: All you need to know about the Dubai 2020 Expo. [Online] Available at:https://www.thenational.ae/uae/dubai-expo-2020-all-you-need-to-know-1.617933/.[Accessed 8 August 2017].

Jauncey, S. and Nadkarni, S., 2014. Expo 2020: What must Dubai’s hospitality and tourism industry do to be ready pre-and post-event? Worldwide Hospitality and Tourism Themes, vol. 6, no. 4, pp.381-386.

Shenkar, O., Luo, Y. and Chi, T., 2014. International business. London: Routledge.

Waqas H. Siddiqui: World EXPO 2020 to boost Dubai Economy, Hospitality & Tourism Sectors. [Online] Available at:https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/world-expo-2020-boost-dubai-economy-hospitality-tourism-waqas-hassan

[Accessed 10 August 2017]