A tender committee is expected to be appointed soon to call bids for an event management company that would manage Sri Lanka’s participation in the much-awaited Dubai Expo 2020. The committee will be appointed by the Ministry of Development Strategies and International Trade together with the Export Development Board (EDB), and the tenders are expected to be called by early next month. Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, National Chamber of Exporters (NCE) Secretary General/CEO Shiham Marikar said that an event management company was supposed to be finalised by last month. However, due to the insufficient number of proposals received from the export sector at that point, the process had been delayed. “We wanted to get proposals from sectors prior to finalising an event management company. So now we have received proposals from 30 sectors. The selected event management company will deal with the relevant associations with regard to the proposals,” Marikar noted. Accordingly, terms of references (ToR) have already been prepared and the rest of the process would be done akin to the Government’s usual tender procedures. Marikkar further noted that the Ministry and EDB will launch Sri Lanka’s participation in Dubai Expo 2020 to create awareness among the business community on this matter. “The perception among the business community is that this expo focuses only on exports. But the truth is we will be covering almost all the areas, including investments and tourism.” According to Marikar, Sri Lanka’s strategic geographical location would be highlighted during the expo and cultural events and mini fashion shows would be held throughout the period. In addition to this, local celebrities would also be invited to conduct programmes in Sri Lanka’s pavilion. The expo will be held for a period of six months from 20 October 2020 to 10 April 2021. The expo is one of the largest international events that takes place once every five years, and this time, Dubai has been selected as the venue. The expo will be held under the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”. The three sub themes are opportunity, mobility, and sustainability, based on which the master floor plan differs. Sri Lanka’s pavilion at Dubai Expo 2020 will be located in the opportunity district which consists of 212 square metres of exhibit area in the ground floor and 172 square metres of office space in the first floor. The Sri Lankan pavilion will be organised under the title “Island of Ingenuity”. Young professionals have been given the opportunity to get involved with the designing of Sri Lanka’s pavilion. Accordingly, teams from the Department of Integrated Design of the Faculty of Architecture, University of Moratuwa have done their design concept under the theme “Water” and the pavilion will be designed to depict this theme. Dubai Expo 2020 is expected to attract over 25 million visitors of which 70% will be international visitors. It is also expected that there will be more than 200 participants during the span of a six-month period, to showcase their countries. The Government expects Dubai Expo 2020 to contribute to achieving Sri Lanka’s vision for 2025 by supporting the growth of tourism, stimulating the development of innovative businesses and enhancing the country’s international reputation as an ideal location to do business.