India will be participating at the World Expo 2020 to be held in Dubai over a course of six months starting October. The Government of India entered into an agreement with the organisers on April 10th which provides for the setting up of India pavilion at Expo 2020 on an extra large plot, spread over around one acre, in the ‘Opportunity’ segment. The much celebrated World Expo is held once in every five years and offers unparalleled opportunities of interaction between a variety of stakeholders from the global trade and investment arena. This is tune with the economic opportunities that India today provides on its way to becoming a US$5 trillion economy by 2025. At Expo 2020, the Indian pavilion will focus on the nation’s advances in Space, Pharma, IT, Renewable Energy, Telecom sectors and promote opportunities in them.
The theme of the 2020 Expo – “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” – is core to numerous initiatives and policies undertaken by the Indian Government to drive overall growth. Initiatives such as Make in India, Startup India, Digital India and Skill India have focussed on providing sustainable solutions to human challenges through technology, while setting up world-class manufacturing and research and development capabilities. Such ventures have seen increasing participation by foreign entities and are aimed at catering to the global marketplace, not just India. India, which by 2030 will have the world’s largest youth population, will play a pivotal in driving global economic growth in the near future. India last participated at the World Expo in 2010 in Shanghai where the theme was “Better City – Better Life”.
The last Expo held in Milan in 2015 was themed around “Feeding the planet, Energy for Life” and saw participation of 145 countries. World Expo, since its inception in 1851, has served as the launchpad for the world’s biggest innovations. The first Expo, The Great Exhibition, was held in London and displayed the best of the industrial revolution, including the telegraph. Since then, Expos have launched the first telephone in Philadelphia in 1876; the Eiffel Tower was built for the World Fair in 1889; wireless technology was first showcased at St Louis Expo in 1904; the first computer at the Seattle Expo in 1962 and electron microscope at Osaka Expo in 1970. The upcoming World Expo will draw over 25 million visitors who will be eager to witness what 180 participating countries and their entities have to offer.
The pavilion will be developed in public-private partnership mode and leading industries and businesses will work with Central and State Governments to participate in India’s pavilion. A number of State Governments, various ministries of Central Government and major industry associations and businesses have already shown interest in partnering and participating in World Expo 2020. India’s Commerce and Industry ministry has held meetings with leading stakeholders and industry associations such as the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) for helping the Government in making India’s participation a memorable and befitting one.