India to showcase innovations, business opportunities at Expo 2020 Dubai

BUILDING MOMENTUM: Piyush Goyal, Navdeep Singh Suri, Vipul, Yusufali M.A., chairman of Lulu Group International; Dr Azad Moopen, founder chairman, MD, Aster DM Healthcare; Dr B.R. Shetty, founder and co-chairman of Finablr; and other officials at the brick-laying ceremony of the India pavilion at the Expo 2020 site in Dubai on Sunday. - Photo by Neeraj Murali

A day after unveiling the Expo 2020 Dubai pavilion theme, senior officials from the Indian government participated in a symbolic brick laying ceremony at the Expo 2020 site in Jebel Ali on Sunday, September 22.
Accompanied by diplomats and leading Indian businesspeople, the current Indian minister of Railways and Commerce Piyush Prakash Goyal stood alongside a group of Indian workers on the Expo site for the ceremony, marking the next stage of construction of the Expo 2020 site. He also interacted with several workers present at the site.
Standing on a makeshift stage on the 4,000 sqm Expo site, the Indian delegation, accompanied by Najeeb Mohammed Al Ali, Executive Director of Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, have pledged to work together to make the  Expo 2020 Dubai a grand success. The Expo 2020 pavilion will be one of the largest pavilions in the Expo 2020 and will be located in the Opportunity District close to iconic Al Wasl Plaza.
Al Ali said the Indian pavilion is going to be one of the icons of the Expo 2020 site. He added, "For many of you, Dubai and the UAE is already home. Now, this pavilion is also going to be your home and, our home. The Indian pavilion is going to showcase Indian innovations, business opportunities, and cultural event."
All 25 million visitors will visit Indian pavilion
Indian ambassador to the UAE Navdeep Singh Suri, consul general Vipul, officers from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), and a legion of Indian business leaders were present at the site inspection and symbolic ceremony.
Speaking ahead of the bricklaying ceremony, Goyal said, "As I was seeing the plans that were articulated before me, this will become the driver of the economy of the UAE going forward. There has been meticulous planning that has gone into it."
He added, "Every visitor who comes to the Expo 2020 should be attracted to the Indian pavilion, and that is going to be our collective responsibility, including mine." He hoped the pavilion would showcase 'the world's oldest civilisation and reflect India's growing engagement with the global community. He also saw the Expo 2020 blueprint at the Dubai Expo headquarters.
Tourism packages to India during Expo 2020
The Indian minister hopes all 25 million visitors of the Dubai Expo 2020 would visit the Indian pavilion. Furthermore, the minister also announced plans of launching travel and tourism packages, in collaborations with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) and the Indian Ministry of Tourism to encourage visitors of the Expo to travel to India for a short three-day visit. "We will work alongside the various states of India to see how we can attract tourists and see a real India," Goyal told reporters on the sidelines of the event. - dhanusha@khaleejtimes.com