190 countries to participate in Expo 2020 Dubai

DUBAI:  A total of 190 countries will take part in Expo 2020 Dubai, it was announced here on Monday.

The announcement comes on the opening day of Expo 2020's third International Participants Meeting (IPM), which will see hundreds of delegates from around the world gather in Dubai to receive information and updates on the delivery of the biggest event to ever be held in the Arab world.

Reem Al Hashemy, Minister of State for International Cooperation, and Director General, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, said: "In less than two years' time, Expo 2020 Dubai will welcome the international community to the UAE for a six-month celebration of human ingenuity and progress, allowing millions of people to experience the world in one place."

The two-day IPM will cover a wide range of topics relating to the design, delivery and content of country pavilions.

Vicente G. Loscertales, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the governing body of World Expos, said: "As the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region, the UAE and Dubai has been working to create a platform to foster creativity, innovation and partnership globally."

For the first time in the 167-year history of World Expos, each participating country will have its own pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai.

A number of nations will sign their official Expo 2020 participation contracts during the IPM, after confirming their chosen sub-theme and pavilion plot.

Countries that have already unveiled their pavilion plans include Austria, Brazil, Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Oman, Poland, Switzerland, the UK and the United Arab Emirates.

More are expected to follow in the coming months.

With 25 million visits expected between October 2020 and April 2021, and 70 per cent of visitors projected to come from outside the UAE, Expo 2020 Dubai will bring the international community together for a six-month celebration of human ingenuity and progress.

Expo 2020 Dubai is slated to take place in October 2020.