Staff Reporter, Gulf Today

Expo 2020 Dubai is literally “Connecting Minds and Creating the Future” by providing promising opportunities to foster global partnerships and develop fruitful collaboration among nations, said Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Sheikh Abdullah made the remarks while visiting the site of Expo 2020 on Friday, where he visited several country pavilions.

Sheikh Abdullah kicked off his tour with a visit to the United Kingdom Pavilion at the Opportunity District. The pavilion’s theme is “Innovating for a shared future”. A project of the late scientist Stephen Hawking inspired its design.

Sheikh Abdullah also stopped at the Ukraine Pavilion at the Opportunity District, themed “Smart Ukraine: connecting dots”. He viewed the pavilion’s three zones, depicting Smart life, Smart thinking and Smart feeling.

He also viewed the inventions on display at the pavilion, including an e-bike that can travel 380km on a single charge and solar blinds that generate energy.

Sheikh Abdullah’s tour of Expo 2020 Dubai also took him to the France Pavilion in the Mobility District. The pavilion, themed “France, Lightspeed Inspiration”, showcases light as a source of inspiration, knowledge and creativity.

During his visit here, Sheikh Abdullah was apprised about the “Notre-Dame de Paris, the Experience”, which creates immersive, interactive reconstructions for the work undertaken to safeguard the structure after the 2019 fire, before the start of reconstruction. Sheikh Abdullah’s next stop was the Thailand Pavilion at the Mobility District. He was briefed about the pavilion’s design, inspired by the traditional floral garlands used in Thailand to welcome houseguests, the structure’s design symbolises hospitality, luck and respect.

The pavilion uses the promise of business opportunities and a convenient lifestyle, in line with its “Mobility for the Future” theme.

Sheikh Abdullah also stopped at the Belgium Pavilion, built on a 500 square metre area. He was introduced to the pavilion’s contents, offering a glimpse into the future of Belgian mobility technologies and innovations.

Meanwhile, Enoc, the official integrated energy partner of Expo 2020 Dubai - has reiterated its commitment to advancing Dubai’s Clean Energy Strategy 2050, which is evident in the actions taken to protect future generations.

‘’Our recent partnership to enhance energy savings across our operations and the savings we recorded from innovative energy efficiency measures implemented across the Group over the last 8 years are a testament to this. These efforts have resulted in reducing our energy consumption by more than 27% since 2013 which is equivalent to 308,000 tons of CO2 reduction,’’ said Saif Humaid Al Falasi, Group CEO, Enoc, in a statement on World Energy Day.

‘’We will continue to put sustainability at the heart of our operations and reimagine the future of energy,” he added.

The World Energy Day on 22nd October, an initiative endorsed by His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, during the World Energy Forum in Dubai in 2012, aims to raise awareness on the importance of saving natural resources, for sustainability, conservation, climate change, carbon emission reduction, and environmental protection. All these contribute to increasing energy efficiency and sustainability.

Meanwhile, Emirates Foundation, the national organization that facilitates public-private funded initiatives to unite social responsibility in the interest of community resilience across the UAE, is providing close to 2,000 volunteers taking part in the success story of the largest global event ever to be held in the region, Expo 2020 Dubai. This comes as part of its commitment to providing all necessary support to the organizers, participating entities and the pavilions of countries participating in the event while giving local and international individuals of all nationalities the valuable opportunity to volunteer to take part in a regional “first” through the volunteers.ae platform.

The online platform received thousands of requests from across all sectors of society, from which Emirates Foundation was able to select some 2,000 volunteers to be assigned to the UAE Pavilion under the theme of “The Land of Dreamers Who Do”, the Gulf Cooperation Council Pavilion, the Saudi Arabian Pavilion, alongside the United Nations Hub (#UNHub) located in the Opportunity Pavilion - Mission Possible, and other events taking place at the Expo.

Ahmed Taleb Al Shamsi, CEO of Emirates Foundation, confirmed that the organization was pleased to be contributing to this spectacular global event and to be part of Expo 2020 Dubai’s success story, saying: “The youth of the nation have expressed their willingness to take action, giving their time and support in all local and global forums. We would like to express how proud we are of all our volunteers and their efforts and how generous they are, and wish them all the best in their journey at Expo 2020 Dubai.”

Al Shamsi added that the untiring task forces at volunteer.ae have successfully attracted, trained, managed and allocated thousands of volunteers to the pavilions and they are now performing tasks that will run over the full six months of the first-of-its-kind EXPO in the region, confirming the importance of the platform’s role as the first and largest national volunteer platform.

All the volunteers have undergone training courses through the Emirates Foundation e-Learning platform and their tasks across the UAE, GCC, KSA and United Nations pavilions at EXPO Dubai 2020 will cover many specialties, including hospitality, content, events, visitor management coordinators, customer service, protocol and VIP services, school visit services, questionnaire services, VIP logistics, client services and guides.

Meanwhile, Engineer Hussain Hanbazazah, the Commissioner-General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Pavilion, said: “We thank the Emirates Foundation for its effective support in training and enrolling the Saudi male and female volunteers, providing them with the required knowledge and skills to communicate with the pavilion’s visitors and helping them with any required information. Since the launch of the pavilion, we have witnessed first-hand the efficiency of Emirates Foundation and its ability to provide the volunteers with the necessary skills to welcome our guests in a way that reflects our tradition and culture in hospitality. It is a privilege for us to work together and we hope that our cooperation will continue in everything that enhances the success of the Kingdom’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai.”

The deployment of volunteers by the Emirates Foundation in support of the UN Hub comes in agreement with the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office in the UAE and the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) programme, who are also jointly deploying international UN Volunteer specialists to manage the UN Hub programming.

The Foundation’s Takatof Program is also providing a number of specialized volunteers who are working at the Aqdar World Summit which will be held from October 24th to October 30th during the EXPO. Here, volunteers’ efforts are focused on guiding visitors, working as IT specialists, network engineers, dialogue session organizers and translators in Chinese, Russian and Hebrew.

As Expo 2020 Dubai gets into full swing, Emirates Foundation confirmed that the major efforts of its volunteer groups at the volunteers.ae platform have succeeded in bringing together a group of skilled volunteers who will serve as Expo ambassadors, providing all forms of support to visitors, where for six months, the eyes of the world will be focused on the United Arab Emirates and Expo 2020 Dubai, representing the UAE’s extraordinary experience in front of the world at the largest global cultural gathering in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia.

Emirates Foundation was established on the 12th of April 2005, as an initiative of His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces. The Foundation is chaired by Sheikh Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Emirates Foundation is a national institution working in partnership with the public and private sectors to implement initiatives and establish the concept of social responsibility through research-based programs that meet the needs of the state on its path to sustainable community development.

The Foundation is mandated to identify and understand the challenges facing Emirati society and works towards creating appropriate opportunities for the development of national competencies and the activation of their role in society through smart platforms, while developing an effective and data-accurate model of social development needs.