Residents show unanimous support for Expo bid

DUBAI // Dubai’s bid for Expo 2020 has almost 100 per cent support from residents, a survey has revealed.

Dubai Statistics Centre (DSC) questioned 65,000 residents earlier this month and found that 98.94 per cent of Emiratis, and 98.61 per cent of non-Emiratis were aware of Dubai’s bid to host the World Expo in 2020.

Moreover, 99.41 per cent of Emiratis and 98.67 per cent of non-Emiratis supported the city’s bid.

Reem Al Hashimy, the Minister of State and managing director of the Dubai World Expo 2020 Bid Committee, welcomed the news.

“It is sincerely gratifying to learn that the data reinforces the outpouring of support we’ve seen from across the UAE, and indeed, the world,” she said.

“As the Dubai Statistics Centre’s campaign ‘We Deserve It’ has proved, an overwhelming majority of the population surveyed believes that we do indeed deserve to host Expo 2020 in Dubai. Inshallah, we hope the member nations of the Bureau International des Expositions agree on Wednesday.”

The other cities in the running are Yekaterinburg on Russia, Sao Paulo in Brazil and Turkey’s Izmir.

The survey found that 99.57 per cent of Emiratis, and 99.12 per cent of non-Emiratis felt that Dubai was a strong candidate for hosting the Expo 2020.

Arif Obaid Al Mehairi, the DSC’s chief executive, said the authority had felt the need to play a role in supporting the UAE’s bid.

“DSC is very grateful for the positive support and reaction of different government and private entities, schools and universities, as well as community and public reaction towards the initiative and would like to take this opportunity to thank all supporters and respondents,” he said.

newsdesk@thenational.ae