Finland and Dubai Expo 2020 sign participation contract
What’s Expo 2020?
Organised in Dubai 20.10.2020–10.4.2021
Theme this year is “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” – subthemes are Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability
For Finland, Mobility is our theme of focus
The exhibition is expecting to host around 180 countries, and 25 million visitors
Finland’s budget is around 10 million euros - half will be provided by company sponsors
Finland signed the participation contract for Dubai Expo 2020 on Monday 12th of November. Finland’s Commissioner General Mr Severi Keinälä and Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau’s Executive Director Mr Najeeb Mohammed Al Ali took part in the signing. They were also joined by the Finnish Ambassador to the UAE, Ms Riitta Swan, as well as three major Finnish sponsor companies: Kone, Konecranes and Outotec. They are all well established in the Middle East markets, and this is why it’s natural for them to participate in the expo preparations from the very beginning.
The event also revealed the design of the Finnish pavilion, which is a project planned by a Finnish architecture group, JKMM, together with four international companies. The building is called Snow Cape (Lumi in Finnish), and it combines Finnish and Arab culture in a modern way. The main entrance to the pavilion was inspired by the shape of an Arab tent – in whole, the pavilion symbolizes a safe haven created under a thick layer of snow, and it’s meant to be a place for relaxing in the midst of all the Expo buzz.
Mr Keinälä stated that Expo 2020 is a great opportunity for Finland to strengthen and create new connections with the UAE, Arab world and globally, too. “Finland is the greenest country in the world: fresh air, pure water, green forests, clean energy and clean technology. Our Nordic nature inspires us to find creative and sustainable solutions and the Finland Pavilion provides a cool shaded refuge for making connections,” Mr Keinälä told the audience.