Dubai says expo would give €28bn boost

Dubai expects a €28bn boost to its economy if it is successful in its bid to stage the World Expo 2020, the emirate announced on Thursday.

Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum, chairman of Dubai’s bid committee, said the emirate would create 277,000 jobs in the run-up to the event, which is expected to attract 25m visitors. Every Expo job is expected to generate another 50 jobs across the Middle East, north Africa and South Asia.

“It would leave a powerful legacy of new international partnership for a generation to come in the UAE and the wider region beyond,” said Sheikh Ahmed, who also runs the government’s fast-growing Emirates airline.

After its debt crisis in 2009, Dubai – which still owes about $110bn to its creditors – has witnessed a recovery as a haven from the Arab spring, encouraging the return of ambitious projects, such as a plan to build the world’s largest Ferris wheel.

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