(Dubai) – As millions of people wait with bated breath for news that could have far reaching positive economic implications for the whole Gulf region, the UAE, all decked up to mark its 42nd National Day, is already in a celebratory mood. With the bidding process for Expo 2020 reaching its nerve-wracking finale in Paris, the city which is elected to host the century-old exposition will be declared sometime between 5pm and 9pm UAE time.
Never before in Dubai’s shining history of spectacular growth, has such a defining historic moment been based on a voting conducted outside the country. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which met in Paris will continue deliberations today ahead of the decisive three-round voting in the evening.
Dubai is pitted against the Turkish city of Izmir, Brazil’s Sao Paulo and Russia’s Yekaterinburg. Today, all the four will make their final pitch to the 168 member nations of the BIE just before the vote. The selection process is based on three rounds of elimination. In each round, the city with the least number of votes will be eliminated. With each round expected to take about one hour, the final winner would be announced by 9pm Dubai time.
