(31 Mar 2022)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Dubai – 30 March 2022
1. Expo2020 entrance gate
2. Various of people walking into Expo grounds
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarek Fadlallah, chief executive at Nomura Asset Management Middle East:
"Well Expo2020, or 2021/22 which is effectively when it was held, was clearly a challenging period for the global economy and the world. And the ability of Dubai to have pulled off this event is quite remarkable under those circumstances. The initial projections prior to the pandemic were that maybe 25 million visitors would come here, and those numbers were somewhat optimistic in the view of many, but the reality is the final numbers are likely to be very close to that number, perhaps 24 million visitors over the six-month period."
4. Al Wasl Dome
5. Various of people walking around grounds
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Samiya Awan, Dubai resident and Expo volunteer:
"I am coming here every day, even if I'm not volunteering, so I'm coming with my kids here."
7. Various of Kuwait pavilion
8. Structure at Expo
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Tarek Fadlallah, chief executive at Nomura Asset Management Middle East:
"So Expo2020 had an impact before it opened, with all the construction that's taken place. It's obviously had an impact during the event, it's estimated that north of 1% impact on GDP during the six-month period which it's been held and it's created a lot of jobs and it will continue to create jobs as this is built out."
10. Various of Azerbijan pavilion
11. Various of people walking into Brazil pavilion
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Khaled Iskandar, Dubai resident and architect:
"I've heard a lot of different mixed feedback about how good and how bad the Expo was, or how it did not meet certain expectations, and some people did not know what to expect from the Expo. Personally, I just wanted to come down by myself and check this out."
13. Sweden pavilion
14. People sitting
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Khaled Iskandar, Dubai resident and architect:
"Personally, you know - to come and, I was very intrigued by the architecture, I was intrigued by the ability to construct all this together in such a short period of time in the middle of a pandemic and to bring that much people into one place. I mean that was fascinating and it kind of surpassed my expectations."
16. Various of sustainability pavilion
STORYLINE:
The pandemic-delayed Expo 2020 in Dubai was buzzing on Wednesday — the penultimate day of the world fair.
It was set to close Thursday after eight years of anticipation, over $7 billion in investment, 240 million hours of labor and six months of festivities.
Some national pavilions will be demolished. A few will remain, like an enormous lacework dome and the UAE's soaring falcon-shaped pavilion.
Other buildings will be rebranded for a new business district soon to rise from the site.
But the deeper legacy of the event proves more elusive.
When Dubai won the bid to host Expo in 2013, it felt like a rebirth. Just four years earlier, the glitzy Emirati city-state suffered a real-estate crash in the Great Recession, saved by a $20 billion bailout from oil-rich Abu Dhabi.
"Expo2020 was clearly a challenging period for the global economy and the world," said Tarek Fadlallah, chief executive at Nomura Asset Management Middle East.
"The ability of Dubai to have pulled off this event is quite remarkable under those circumstances," he added.
As property prices roared back, the Expo crown — a first for the Middle East — appeared to signal Dubai's troubles were over.
K-pop stars, Bollywood singers and a beloved Iranian pop diva lured thousands.
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