Russia Boasts Record-High Trade Turnover With UAE as Delayed Dubai Expo 2020 Finally Kicks Off

The two countries and their respective businesses have been holding talks for years to hold joint projects in the UAE. Now, these efforts are bearing their first fruit.

Expo 2020 has opened in Dubai – it is the most famous exhibition in the world and takes place every five years. This is the first international event of this level to take place in the Middle East since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. The exhibition was supposed to open last year, but was postponed (instead of being cancelled) due to the epidemiс. Around $7 billion was spent to build the Expo's extensive complex.

According to Expo tradition, each participating country, 192 of them this year, prepares a demonstration of their latest advancements in the fields of science, culture, industry, and technology. The Expo is also an important platform for new partnerships, Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade Aleksei Gruzdev told Sputnik.

"We are confident that after Expo 2020 we will make new partners in Arab countries, but we are also talking about opening new areas of partnership. Russian industry is actively developing in the spheres of nuclear energy, traditional and alternative energy sources - we have something to show in the field of wind generation, solar energy, digital technologies, and mechanical engineering. A number of enterprises, including metallurgical facilities, have already been built in the Middle East region using Russian technologies and on Russian investments".

Aleksei Gruzdev

Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade

Per the deputy minister, the trade turnover between Russia and the UAE, where the Expo is taking place, has grown by almost 80% over the past year. Even more profits are expected this year.

"This is how the delayed effect worked - there was a period when we were making contacts, preparing various projects, and now these efforts are paying off. This year, the profits from cooperation with the UAE will be more than the last one, since we have almost reached $3 billion in trade turnover in just seven months. This result already equals the turnover from last year, therefore, I think we will definitely break the record from 2020 and will fight for a new one".

Aleksei Gruzdev

Russian Deputy Minister of Industry and Trade

Russia's pavilion opened on the first day of the exhibition and will remain open for the entire six months until March 2022, when the Expo ends. It is a domed room with its outer shell consisting of numerous multi-coloured threads, created by the pavilion's architect - Sergei Tchoban. During the Dubai Expo 2020, the Russian pavilion will host 60 business and cultural events.

The choice of a new location for the exhibition was determined by a vote of the General Assembly of the International Exhibitions Bureau and Russia has already applied to host Expo 2030, choosing Moscow as the host city.