Expo City Dubai: Businesses move 3,000 employees to world fair legacy site

Businesses have started to relocate in droves to Dubai’s Expo City – the legacy site of the world’s fair – with around 3,000 employees from local and global organizations expected to be working on-site by September.

Before the world fair closed last year, Expo 2020 announced plans to transform the vast site into UAE’s first ‘15-minute city’ – meaning it will be possible to walk or cycle throughout the sprawling site without the need of a car.

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Last year, Dubai’s ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid also said the site would become a “hub of economic activity” and home to major companies and their headquarters, served by the nearby Dubai World Central airport and the metro link to the city center.

And businesses have taken note.

International businesses, organizations and educational institutions, with around 3,000 employees, will have established offices at Expo City Dubai by September, to make the site their new home.

Manal al-Bayat, chief engagement officer at Expo City Dubai, said: “Organizations of all sizes, across a myriad of sectors and from all around the world are crucial to Expo City’s legacy plans and take forward Expo 2020 Dubai’s purpose to connect minds and create the future. We’re honored to welcome such a diverse group of partners, and strive to connect and inspire these businesses, enabling them to thrive, and supporting their growth aspirations.”

Anchor tenants and new businesses setting up their operations include DP World, Emirates Airline, Siemens Energy, Siemens Industrial, Terminus Group, Engie and Gratiya Consultancy, while former country pavilions from Expo 2020 Dubai will find new purpose, with the University of Wollongong Data Science, Discovery and Innovation Centre in the Australia Pavilion, FinGulf LLC in the Finland Pavilion and the China Pavilion continuing to support China-UAE relations and business development.

Sir Tim Clark, president of Dubai’s Emirates Airline, said the airline was “proud to contribute to Expo’s legacy at Expo City Dubai” by transforming its dedicated Emirates Pavilion which featured in the world fair into a bespoke space for the Emirates Group Innovation and Emerging Technologies Centre.

“This will serve as a base for our innovation team, a venue for events, and also a space for global partners to collaborate with us on projects that will propel our vision for aviation and travel.”

Expo City aims to connect Fortune 500 companies, entrepreneurs and SMEs, as well as government, academia and research institutions, to drive the growth of Expo City and enhance Dubai’s position as a global center of trade.

Expo City Dubai is also in the midst of unveiling plans for major residential developments, heralding the next phase on its journey to become a smart, sustainable, people-centric city of the future.

The developments, which include apartments, townhouses, and villas, offer residents a unique opportunity to be part of the long-term vision of an incredible World Expo and to live in the heart of its legacy city – an integral hub in the Dubai 2040 Urban Master Plan.

As well as office and residential space, the legacy site will have 10km of cycling tracks, a 5km running track, children’s playgrounds and 45,000 square meters of parks and gardens.

Last month, a report from EY predicted that Expo 2020 Dubai and its legacy are expected to contribute $42.2 billion of gross value added (GVA) to the UAE’s economy from 2013 to 2042.

The World Expo, which welcomed 24.1 million visits during its six-month run, is also expected to support approximately 1,039,000 full-time equivalent (FTE) job-years, equal to more than 35,000 FTE jobs per annum in the UAE over the same period.

The sectors contributing most to GVA – a measure of economic productivity – are events organization and business services ($20.6 billion), construction ($8.7 billion), and restaurants and hotels ($6.3 billion). The pre-event phase contributed around one quarter of GVA, the event itself added almost 13 per cent, while the lion’s share of economic benefits – 62 percent – will be felt in the legacy phase through to 2042.

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