Expo 2020 Dubai will award 47 construction contracts worth AED 11bn ($3bn) in 2017 as preparations for the first World Expo in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia continue to gather pace.
A further 98 non-construction contracts totalling more than AED 360mn ($98mn) will also be dished out before the year is out. These will range from legal advisory services to event management and merchandising.
Construction contracts to be awarded this year, which are open to local, regional and international businesses, include the third and final infrastructure package for the events support areas, including car parking.
Other key awards include the contracts to build the three thematic districts that will host the majority of the pavilions, as well as the public areas and the design, development and delivery of all temporary architecture and infrastructure required to stage the event.
The Expo 2020 Dubai eSourcing Portal includes details of upcoming tender opportunities as well as contracts already awarded. These range from smaller contracts to larger, multibillion dirham opportunities.
Her Excellency Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and Director General, Dubai Expo 2020 Bureau, said: We are committed to working with leading businesses from across the world in order to deliver an exceptional event of this scale, on time and on budget.
This is particularly true when it comes to the development of the physical site, which will live on long beyond 2021 to become an anchor for the UAEs developing knowledge economy in Dubai South.
But just as importantly, the non-construction contracts to be procured this year will allow us to spread the investment made in the Expo as far as possible and enable local, regional and international businesses of all sizes to be part of what will be the most inclusive and international event in Expo history.
In 2016, Expo 2020 Dubai awarded over 1,200 contracts, investing more than AED 2bn ($544.5mn) in the economy. This included the appointment of an Orascom-Besix joint venture at the end of the year to develop the deep infrastructure at the Expo site in Dubai South.
Once complete, the Expo site will cover 4.38 km2 and host up to 300,000 people a day during the six months of the event which runs from October 2020 and April 2021.
Ahmed Al Khatib, Vice President of Real Estate & Delivery, Expo 2020 Dubai, said: While 2016 was an important year for design, 2017 is when the momentum of construction will really build, ahead of international participants beginning work on their pavilions in 2018.
He added: These important contracts will help us meet our target of completing the majority of construction with a year to go before Expo 2020 Dubai opens its doors in October 2020, providing the opportunity for all-important readiness testing.
Early works on site are now complete, with more than 4.7 million m3 of earth moved. The first infrastructure contract, covering the deep infrastructure of the non-gated Expo area, including the Expo Village, was awarded to Tristar Engineering and Construction in July 2016.