Etisalat in partnership with Expo 2020 Dubai Volunteers

The search for the 30,000 ‘faces’ of Expo 2020 Dubai is building momentum with Etisalat announced as the Official Premier Partner of Expo 2020 Volunteers.

Etisalat will launch an awareness campaign to encourage millions of its customers to volunteer in the lead-up to and during the largest event ever held in the Arab world.

The 30,000 volunteers will have a unique opportunity to play an essential role in Expo 2020 and to give back to the country, by welcoming the world to the UAE and helping to showcase the renowned Emirati culture and national values.

The Expo 2020 Volunteers programme has already made a number of stops on a nationwide tour in its search for the talented people who will help deliver Expo 2020 from Oct.20, 2020 to April 10, 2021.

Abeer Al Hosani, Director, Expo 2020 Volunteers, said: “We look forward to working with Etisalat to connect with the volunteers who will play a crucial role in ensuring that Expo 2020 Dubai is the World’s Greatest Show. We have created meaningful roles that will lead to work-ready skills, as well as an exceptional experience that will remain with volunteers for life.”

Dr Ahmed Bin Ali, Group Senior Vice President, Corporate Communication, Etisalat, said: “We are delighted and indeed honoured to extend our partner relationship with Expo 2020 Dubai in encouraging 30,000 ‘faces’ to be part of this prestigious programme, giving them an opportunity to participate in the largest global event ever held in the Arab world. This is also in line with our brand direction, ‘Together Matters’, which embodies the power of technology in connecting and enriching people’s lives, reflecting the UAE’s Leadership’s principles of promoting co-existence, voluntary work and generosity.”

Etisalat, the region’s leading telco, had been previously confirmed as Expo 2020’s Official Premier Telecommunications Partner and Official Digital Services Partner (jointly with Accenture). Through its partnership, Expo 2020 Dubai has become the first major 5G commercial customer in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia (MEASA) region, making it one of the fastest, smartest and best connected places in the world.

During Expo 2020, there will be more than 30 volunteering roles - including welcoming guests, guiding visitors around the Expo site and supporting events - with more than 16 million volunteering hours spread across 173 days. Some of these opportunities are already available in the lead-up to Expo.

Volunteers will gain unrivalled hands-on mega-event experience and practical skills, while meeting people from all around the world to develop international contacts - and having fun at the same time.

The Expo 2020 Volunteers programme is open to all adult UAE nationals and expat residents, including university students, graduates, homemakers, employees, retirees and people of determination.

Expo 2020 Dubai, the first World Expo held in the MEASA region, will serve as a platform for international collaboration, fostering innovation and creating meaningful partnerships that will live far beyond 2020 - not only for the UAE, but for the wider region and the world. It will welcome an anticipated 25 million visits over the course of 173 days, on the eve of the nation’s Golden Jubilee.

Emirates Telecommunications Group Company (Etisalat Group) is one of the world’s leading telecom groups in emerging markets. Headquareted in Abu Dhabi, it was established more than four decades ago in the UAE as the country’s first telecommunications service provider. An international blue-chip organisation, Etisalat Group provides innovative solutions and services to 143 million subscribers in 15 countries across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.

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.

WAM/Agencies