UAE's Expo presentation stresses Dubai's assets

(Amanda Fisher) / 27 November 2013

Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimi delivered a passionate speech in support of Dubai's bid to hold the World Expo in 2020 

Photo courtesy: @bieparis via Twitter

Dubai's World Expo in 2020 would attract the largest ever number of visitors and would be the first carbon neutral expo, if it successful.
The managing director of Dubai's World Expo 2020 bid, Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimi, has just delivered the country's fifth and final presentation to the 154th General Assembly of the Bureau International des Expositions at the conclusion of their two-year bid.
 The winner of the vote, out of Dubai, Brazil's Sao Paulo, Russia's Yekaterinburg, and Turkey's Izmir, will be decided on by one final vote of the BIE's 167 members tonight.
Al Hashimi told those gathered at the presentation in Paris that she was making 'what is likely to be one of the most important speeches of my life', at the commencement of her 20 minute presentation shortly before 2pm. 
 She told the audience Dubai had the skills, assets and expertise to give Expo 2020 'the weight and recognition it deserves'. 
 “(We will deliver a) meaningful and far-reaching legacy, an authentic portrait of the interconnected and fast-moving world in 2020.”
 She said the expo would be the first carbon neutral expo on record, while it was expected the highest ever number of visitors would turn out to the fair.
 Al Hashimi's presentation was interspersed with three videos, which screened endorsements for Dubai's bid from such luminaries as Bill Gates and former Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo.
 The voting process, which is scheduled to begin at 5pm UAE time and estimated to last three hours, comprises three secret ballots.
 After each round, the candidate with the lowest number of votes will be eliminated and a fresh round will be held. The winner is likely to be announced by 8.30 pm UAE time.
 The Expo 2020 will be a first of its kind, no matter which country wins. If Dubai or Izmir win, it will be the first Middle Eastern expo.

 If Russia wins, it will be the first Russian world fair, while a win for Sao Paulo will make it the first world's fair in South America and Latin America as well as the first in the Western Hemisphere in 34 years and the first in the Southern Hemisphere in 32 years.