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Foreign Minister Westerwelle congratulates the United Arab Emirates on the 2020 Expo in Dubai
In Berlin today (28 November), Foreign Minister Westerwelle issued the following statement on Dubai being chosen to host the 2020 World Expo:
I congratulate the United Arab Emirates on winning the bid to host the 2020 World Expo in Dubai.
For the very first time an Arab country has been chosen, not least in recognition of the breath-taking pace of development in the United Arab Emirates. Dubai has literally become a global hub and is now a large, modern and cosmopolitan metropolis.
I wish the United Arab Emirates all the best and great success in the preparations which it must now undertake.
Dubai managed to defeat Yekaterinburg in the third round of voting at the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) in Paris, winning 116 of the164 votes. The other candidates, São Paulo and Izmir were already out of the running.
