UAE minister visits the Bahamas Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai

Staff Reporter, Gulf Today

Mohamed Bin Hadi Al Hussaini, Minister of State for Financial Affairs, visited The Bahamas pavilion at the Sustainability District at Expo 2020 Dubai. The pavilion, themed ‘Preserving Paradise’, reflects the country’s beautiful nature and biological diversity while educating visitors about the challenges facing The Bahamas in the field of climate change.

During his visit, Mohamed Al Hussaini was briefed on The Bahamas’ traditions, heritage, and history; and demonstrated the promising opportunities of the various investment and business projects in the country, including local goods and products. The pavilion contains a business area to introduce the ease of doing business and investments at The Bahamas.

The minister stressed on the important role that Expo 2020 Dubai plays as a pioneering platform that showcases different countries’ experiences and history, allowing them to share their thoughts and ideas on global challenges to devise solutions that will help build a sustainable future.

He was also briefed on the authentic Bahamian art inspired by its nature, as well as sculptures that capture the essence of the Bahamian diverse heritage. Additionally, the minister also reviewed the climate challenges that The Bahamas and other small islands face, foremost of which is global warming and its impact on the ecosystem in these islands. The Bahamas Pavilion serves as an inspiration that calls on the global community to devise sound solutions to help achieve comprehensive sustainability.

The Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has launched a new video as part of its ‘En Route to the Expo’ series, where Marwan Hadi, Executive Vice President and Head of Retail Banking at Emirates NBD, shares his vision and expectations for the global event that was launched on October 1, 2021, for the first time in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia region.

The video series aims to highlight the business community’s active role in Expo 2020 Dubai, showcase the effective tools the event employs to establish contact between local and international business communities, and underline the visions and expectations of high-profile leaders and decision makers from the UAE taking part in the event.

“As a Premier Partner and theOfficial Banking Partner to Expo 2020 Dubai, Emirates NBD Group is proud to be supporting this historic event,” said Marwan Hadi. “Our partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai and our presence on-site at Future Banking by Emirates NBD and Emirates Islamic is an unparalleled opportunity for us to provide digital banking services, developed using our latest innovations in smart technology to meet the highest international standards and ensure a complete digital payment experience.”

“Our shared commitment with Expo 2020 Dubai to support SMEs and start-ups has compelled us to launch exclusive banking packages to help companies seize the promising opportunities the mega-event has to offer,” he added.

“The UAE is home to more than 200 nationalities; hosting such a truly global event reaffirms the Emirates’ values, traditions, and hospitality towards visitors from around the world,” Hadi continued. “As an Emirati, I am overwhelmed with pride and humility at the same time, as well as a sense of responsibility while my country hosts this world-class event in parallel with its Golden Jubilee. The UAE is the first country to host this event in the Middle East and North Africa, which creates a great opportunity to show the world our potential – as a country and region.”

The Emirates NBD EVP went on to note that “as the UAE’s preferred bank and a leader in the regional banking sector, we are delighted to be working alongside various UAE Government entities to launch promising opportunities in line with Expo 2020 Dubai’s themes. With that in mind, and as part of the Digital Silk Road initiative, we have previously collaborated with Dubai Chamber to support commercial banking solutions and streamline transactions with advanced Blockchain technology.”

“Over the past five decades, the UAE has shown the world that the impossible is, indeed, possible, spearheading tremendous progress across all sectors,” he explained. “The global event presents a prominent platform to celebrate innovation, creativity, humanity, and world cultures for six consecutive months. It offers an ideal opportunity to build connections, explore the latest developments and innovations, and do business. We look forward to welcoming visitors from around the world to explore the best the UAE has to offer.”

“As a leading national banking group, Emirates NBD is proud of its role as an ambassador for the social and economic progress of the UAE to the world,” he concluded.

As part of its role as Official Business Integration Partner for Expo 2020 Dubai, Dubai Chamber is running a series of commerce and trade initiatives throughout the event, including three of its flagship events held as part of its Global Business Forum series. The Chamber has organised the 6th GBF Africa and the inaugural GBF ASEAN, and is now gearing up to host the 4th GBF Latin America. The mega-event also saw the Chamber co-organise the 12th World Chambers Congress – the largest event of its kind, bringing together chamber leaders and representatives from around the world.

Part of Dubai Chamber’s Business Connect initiative, the ‘En Route to the Expo’ video series was developed in collaboration with Entrepreneur Middle East to provide a platform for public and private sector stakeholders to share their thoughts on what they are expecting from the mega-event.

Established in 1965, Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry is a non-profit public entity, whose mission is to represent, support and protect the interests of the business community in Dubai by creating a favourable business environment, supporting the development of business, and by promoting Dubai as an international business hub.

Meanwhile, the whole world will have now a reason to visit Dubai. The world is now hailing the vision and courage demonstrated by the leadership of Dubai and the UAE at this special time facing all the challenges and turning the challenges as blessings. About 3 to 5 percent of people visiting Expo 2020 is expected revisiting Dubai or planning to make Dubai their residence post the Expo.

In 1851 the Crystal Palace was the centrepiece of London’s Great Exhibition – the first World Expo. It celebrated the man-made industrial wonders of a rapidly changing world. Architecture, contents and a theme, ‘Industry of All Nations’, were combined to create a big idea of nations meeting nations in shared technological and commercial progress. In more recent years, participants in World Expos, including governments, international organisations and companies, have gathered to find solutions to universal challenges and to promote their achievements, products, ideas, innovations, their national brand, and their nations as destinations for tourism, trade and investment.

World Expos are held under the auspices of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the intergovernmental organisation responsible for overseeing and regulating international exhibitions (‘Expos’) and for fostering their core values of Education, Innovation and Cooperation. Today, four types of Expos are organised under the BIE’s auspices: World Expos, Specialised Expos, Horticultural Expos and the Triennale di Milano.