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29 countries commit to Expo 2020 plots

dubai - More than 150 countries that have already confirmed their intent to take part in the event

Twenty-nine countries signed official participation contracts at the International Participants Meeting (IPM) for Expo 2020, organisers said.

The signatories, which included Switzerland, Oman and Bahrain, are among more than 150 countries that have already confirmed their intent to take part in the event.

The official participation contract is signed by a country once details such as the size, location and theme for their national pavilion have been agreed with Expo 2020 Dubai.

More than 500 representatives from countries attended the meeting, which was the largest gathering of potential Expo 2020 national participants to date.

Reem Ibrahim Al Hashemi, Minister of State for International Cooperation and Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau Director-General, said: "I am delighted that our 2020 Expo family has grown, with 15 additional countries publicly announcing their participation and a further 29 signing contracts of participation."

Dimitri Kerkentzes, Deputy Secretary-General of BIE, said: "We are very grateful to Expo 2020 for having hosted such an informative and collaborative participants meeting. The response from all delegates was extremely positive and we expect many more countries to sign up for this
historic World Expo after hearing about the plans."

The countries that signed official participation contracts at the IPM were: Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrain, Belarus, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Central African Republic, Cuba, Czech Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo, East Timor, Grenada, Guinea, Kuwait, Lesotho, Liberia, Marshall Islands, Oman, Nauru, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint Lucia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Soloman Islands, Somalia, Switzerland, Togo, Tuvalu and Yemen.

They join Luxembourg which was the first country to formally sign earlier this month.

More than 200 participants, including countries, multilateral organisations, corporations and educational institutions, are expected to take part in Expo 2020.

- waheedabbas@khaleejtimes.com