2020 Dubai Expo: Nigeria to showcase Economic sector  

The Nigerian government says critical sectors of the country’s economy such as Agriculture, Manufacturing, Creative Industry, Culture and youthful generation would be showcased during the upcoming 2020 Dubai Expo.

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Maryam Katagum who disclosed this during a Media Chat in Abuja said the aim of the showcased sectors is to enable the world to tap into its abundant opportunities available and to benefit from the Expo.

According to her, “It should be noted that Nigeria’s pavilion is located at the “Opportunity Zone” of Dubai Expo 2020 in line with Nigeria’s theme statement. The Nigerian Pavilion tagged the “Opportunity City” is a rich showcase of life in Nigeria; the culture and people through unique narratives and media, spotlighting five avenues, namely: Resilience, Enterprising, Respectful, Hardworking, Tech and Sports.”

Nigerian pavilion
The Minister stated that Nigeria is one of several countries which have benefited from the generosity of the United Arab Emirates government by providing the country with a two million dollar assisted pavilion.

“The Nigerian pavilion is designed in Green, White and Green depicting our national colors. I am glad to inform you that Nigeria has completed content creation process, procurement of exhibits and commercial retail items and shipping of artefacts to Dubai. In the meantime, internal installation is ongoing”, she added.

Katagum also said Nigeria’s participation in Dubai 2020 Expo anchored on a theme: “Harnessing Opportunity, Creating the Future” aims at showcasing the abundant natural and human resources available in the 36 States of the Federation and the FCT.

Economic impact
The Ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to Nigeria, Dr. Fahad Al Taffaq while giving a highlight on the 2020 Dubia Expo said the six-month expo will take place from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.

He said “the economic impact of this event cannot be over emphasized. So far, the Expo has registered more than 46,000 organisations from 180 countries to do business with Expo 2020. Also, 5.12 billion Arab Emirate Dirham worth of contracts have been awarded to SMEs and they account for 54% of the businesses registered with the Expo and 55% of all Expo 2020 contracts awarded to the sector, laying emphasis on small and medium-sized enterprises as key to future growth and job creation.”

“The Dubai Expo 2020 is lined up to showcase several brilliant entertainment activities, it will welcome top artists and academics, pop stars and pioneering thinkers, culinary wizards and corporate gurus, tech ninjas and tomorrow’s leaders with up to 60 live events daily for 182 days, participating countries including Nigeria will contribute to the dynamic, diverse and ever-changing events”, Taffaq added.

Nneka Ukachukwu