Assolombarda’s first ever congress entirely dedicated to Expo 2020 Dubai took place in the presence of the Organisational Committee of the United Arab Emirates and it was a marvellous platform to fill entrepreneurs in about the extraordinary prospects arising from the Universal Exhibition. Expo 2020 Dubai is an unparalleled window of business opportunity for the companies belonging to Assolombarda (the entrepreneurial association of Lombardy).
Already heavily involved in sustaining enterprise at the time of Expo Milan 2015, the Association organised an institutional meeting with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Italian Trade Agency (ICE). It was the first Italian appointment to put the spotlight on the event and to make enterprise aware of the business potential arising from Expo 2020 Dubai and foster direct contact with the procurement department of Expo 2020.
The event was attended by Carlo Bonomi, President of Assolombarda; Paolo Glisenti, Commissioner General of Section for Italy at Expo 2020 Dubai; S.E Najeeb Al Ali, Executive Director of the Dubai-Expo-2020 Bureau; Fabrizio Sala, Deputy President and Councilman for Research, Innovation, Universities, Export and Internationalisation for the Lombardy Region, Edi Liborio Stellino, Italian Ambassador in the United Arab Emirates; Najeeb Al Ali, Executive Director of Expo 2020 Dubai; Richard McGuire, Deputy Director of Procurement Expo 2020 Dubai; Piergiorgio Borgogelli, Director General of the Italian Trade Agency (ICE); Alessandro Decio, Managing Director of the Italian Export Trade Agency (Sace).
This project is part of a programme which aims to help member companies to seize the opportunities arising in this initial phase from the construction of the exhibition site and foreign pavilions and from the many events due to be held in Dubai during the six months of the Universal Exhibition.
One measure of the extent of the opportunities offered by Expo 2020 Dubai transpires clearly from the following statistics: Italy is the third European partner of the UAE (after Germany and the United Kingdom) and ranks seventh in the world. Italian exports to the Emirates came to 2.7 billion Euros in the first 5 months of 2017 and for 2018 there is a forecast increase of +4.6% mainly relating to the sectors of aviation, aerospace, defence, pharmaceutics, transport, financial services and telecommunications. The local authorities expect an additional growth of 7.5% in the short term.
The Exhibition theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” plainly indicates the spirit of the whole event: bringing together minds from all over the world and inspiring participants to work together and solve the challenges they face. Three main themes take centrestage and they are physically represented by three pavilions, symbolising opportunities, sustainability and mobility.