The SMCCU would like to congratulate Dubai, and all of those who participated in showcasing this great city to the world; including the UAE’s President and Vice President, HH Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Razshid Al Maktoum respectively, Dubai’s EXPO2020 committee and its leadership, the judging committee, participating companies, businesses, citizens and expats alike who supported our bid to host the 2020 Expo.

Dubai’s theme Connecting Minds, Creating the Future, lies at the heart of who Dubai is. It is not a new story, but a continuing story, of a village in the desert, at a crossroads connecting peoples and cultures, exchanging not limited to material goods but ideas, cultures and philosophies. From the first Bedouin tribes to arrive in the region, to our recent migration of people from all over the globe who truly call Dubai home, our city is, through its visionary leadership a portrait of what the future can be in this region.

We congratulate the UAE on its accomplishments thus far, but as HH Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum expressed, this is just the beginning of our goals as a city, country and people. It is not a task to be performed alone, and we know that our global partners and individuals will play a pivotal role in making this happen. It is our joint task to fulfill the vision, mission and path before us, to be an example to the world by connecting minds in advancing technology for global trade, sustainability with environmental awareness and preservation of both the tangible and intangible: the heritage and culture of the people, and new and creative innovation that encourages and provides a path to economic development in the region.

With these themes in mind we hope for a focused, progressive path to an Expo that showcases Dubai as a pinnacle of our global world and well able to shape not only its own future but a better future of all.