Editorial: Expo 2020 Dubai: World spectacle to see

Irecently returned from a week visit to Dubai, although it was for The Voice Achievers Award 2021 but I took out time to see the amazing wonder Dubai government has prepared for the world to see. The Expo 2020 pavilion is ready and by the time you are reading this editorial, it would have been declared open for world visitation and viewing to inspire the participating countries on how best to develop their countries for the future now. It has been tagged the World’s Greatest Show. Hosted by Dubai, the first-ever World Expo to be held in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) region is in and of itself an unmissable sixmonth affair. It is a confluence of 200-plus countries and entities bringing you and your family interactions with robots, food dished out by Michelin-star chefs, treks with gorillas and live shows starring your favourite singers. It all began with The Great Industrial Exhibition of 1851 in London. Fast forward 170 years later, humanity now enjoys problem-solving tech, from our telephones to electric cars, which were first revealed at Expos. Equally thrilling innovations will be introduced to the world at Expo 2020 Dubai (hint: a mode of transport that travels faster than airplanes), which has been running under the slogan of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ for the past eight years whilst under preparation. The World Expos are a global platform regulated by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), taking place every five years. Once the host nation is elected, it then invites other countries to showcase their achievements and inventions in diverse pavilions for a better future. On November 27, 2013, Dubai won the bid to host the 34th World Expo. This time round, great minds are not only envisioning a greener, more sustainable tomorrow but they are also driving action in real time through Expo 2020’s grassroots initiatives such the World Majlis series, 10 Thematic Weeks – debuting with the critical Climate and Biodiversity Week and the Global Best Practice Programme (GBPP). If this sounds like a lot of information to digest, fear not because the site is split into three Thematic Districts anchored in the sub themes of Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity. Country pavilions located in each wing have something to say about their progress and aspirations in terms of allocating resources, moving faster and better and unlocking potential within their people. The representative Thematic Pavilions (Sustainability, Mobility and Opportunity Pavilions) will become your one-stop source for how we can move forward to meet the world’s most critical challenges. Expo 2020 Dubai will run from October 1, 2021, to March 31, 2022, after which the site is planned for a major urban project known as District 2020. You can visit the fair on all seven days of the week. From Saturday to Wednesday, the timings are 10am to 12am (midnight); on Thursday and Friday, from 10am to 2am (midnight). If you are in Dubai, I would encourage you to visit, to get inspired and see how countries are advancing into the future. African government should send their thinkers and policy makers to this world exhibition so they can bring the great ideas back to their home country, some African government are being represented in the opening ceremony I gathered. Congratulations to Dubai for this great piece of world wonder; someone said to be DUBAI is becoming the 7th Continent of the world. The truth may be far-fetched. Enjoy your special edition where we report on the recently concluded the Voice Achievers Award 2021 which took place in Dubai. Look forward to more stories in the coming months; we are already looking forward to 2022. God bless you all. Amb. Elvis Iruh Editor-in-Chief

Pastor Amb. Elvis Iruh Editor-in-Chief