Expo 2020 Dubai is officially underway, with the NSW Government offering businesses across the state the chance to take part in the international platform and embrace the opportunity to showcase NSW goods and services to the globe.
Running from October 2021 to March 2022, Expo 2020 Dubai is the first World Expo to be hosted in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region and is expected to attract more than 25 million visitors both in person and virtually from 192 countries.
Minister for Jobs, Investment, Trade and Industry Stuart Ayres said Expo is a unique opportunity to connect NSW businesses with global audiences, especially as the world navigates a path out of COVID-19 restrictions.
“Expo comes around only once every five years and presents us with a global platform to showcase NSW’s strengths as a source of high-quality goods and services, a great place to visit and study, and also as an attractive investment destination and partner in innovation,” Mr Ayres said.
“There is already a strong demand for NSW goods and services across the globe but as outlined in the NSW Government’s Trade Statement last week, we are aiming to double the value of NSW exports over the next decade from $96 billion to $200 billion.
“We’ll be doing this by growing the markets we trade with, supporting more businesses to export, and broadening the mix of our exports – Expo forms part of this strategy.”
Expo 2020 Dubai will feature showcases, delegations and business matching opportunities anchored to major international exhibitions and conferences for sectors across food and beverage, medtech, space, agribusiness and agtech and education.
Minister Ayres said that Expo held great promise for the state’s emerging space industry as well as medtech companies in reaching new audiences.
“NSW ranks first in research and development spending in Australia and is home to 38 per cent of the nation’s space start-ups and 37 per cent of med-tech companies.”
“With continued investment into domestic research and development many Gulf countries are poised to become powerhouses within the space sector and are strengthening their health infrastructure, making Expo Dubai a platform for emerging NSW companies, especially as NSW enjoys a strong relationship with the UAE.”
NSW businesses have already made impressive contributions to the creation of the Expo precinct such as Western Sydney’s Zip Water, providing water taps and filtration at the Dubai event, leveraging its recent expansion into the UAE.
After being postponed due to the pandemic, Expo 2020 Dubai will run as a hybrid event both virtually and in person capacity. NSW participation in the first three months will largely be virtual with options for in person activity in early 2022 being assessed.
The UAE is NSW’s gateway to the Gulf region, with the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) featuring the 12 wealthiest sovereign wealth funds in the world. The sovereign wealth funds and their state-owned entities remain important investors in NSW and are keen to identify new investment opportunities, with Expo the perfect platform to do so.
NSW will focus investment attraction priorities on the emerging technology sector and the established infrastructure, freight and logistics sectors, while for export promotion, NSW will focus on food and agtech, and emerging health and medtech and digital technology sectors.
Investment NSW is a major partner in the federal government’s ‘Australia Pavilion.’ To find out more head to World Expo in Dubai – Investment NSW.
