São Paulo – Brazil pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai, a world exhibition taking place in the United Arab Emirates, has clocked one million visitors. By Tuesday, January 25, 1,017,010 people had visited the venue, Trade and Investment Promotion Agency (Apex-Brasil), which organizes the space, told ANBA.
There’s no official ranking, but Apex-Brazil believes, based on the information of visitors and the staffs that work in the exhibition, that it is among the top five most visited pavilions. The Expo is an exhibition that takes place every five years in different cities around the world, each one for six months, when the countries showcase what they do best. The current edition that is running from October through March was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed due to COVID-19.
According to Apex-Brasil, the Brazilian space has been featured among the most important rankings of pavilions to be visited at the Expo 2020 Dubai ran by the local press in terms of design, places to visit with kids, unwind, refresh, eat, and other rankings. The visitors are diverse, from families with toddlers to business delegations.
The experiences available in the Brazil pavilion, which has water as its main feature, are diverse. There are concerts with Brazilian artists, dance performances, art installations at the Igarapé Room, snacks at the café, meals at Nossa restaurant, products on sale at the store, shows and exhibitions as well as actions from companies and public entities like governments and institutions focused on investments, technologic development, innovations, and other topics.
The Water Plaza, a shallow water blade reminiscent of a rainforest lake, is the main feature, as well as the overall design. “It’s a cool place to dip your toes to beat the heat from a walk through the Expo,” Apex-Brazil said about the Plaza. The Agency says the pavilion has shown the “Brazilian face” at Expo and was designed to create an immersive experience about the country, taking visitors from Dubai to Brazil.
Apex-Brasil was appointed by the Brazilian government to be responsible for the country’s presence at the event and has worked to engage public and private partners in the efforts of Expo 2020. Indeed, many activities held at the Brazil pavilion are carried out by Apex-Brasil together with these partners. Every ten days, a new exhibition opens at the Igarapé Room at the pavilion. An average of eight large-sized events are held, as well as shows developed by companies and states, besides participations in debates of the Expo and minor activities like music and dance performances.
The Brazil pavilion has hosted the Space Week held by the Expo itself featuring the Brazil’s Science, Technology and Innovation minister Marcos Pontes; the visit of Brazil’s president Jair Bolsonaro on November 15, the Brazil Day at Expo; the photo exhibit Beyond Margins, held by Vale Cultural Institute with pictures of established photographers like Pierre Verger; and many other activities.
For the two remaining months of Expo 2020, a vast program is scheduled: cooking shows on the Caatinga biome (on January 31) and the Amazon, an Agricultural Week to showcase Brazil as a sustainable agricultural power (in parallel with the food and beverage trade show Gulfood in February and the following week), the Agrictalks event on opportunities in Brazilian agribusiness, the launch of celebrations of the bicentennial of Brazil’s Independence, the Investment Latin America Forum and the Water Week, and others.
In Dubai
In addition to the events taking place in the Brazilian pavilion itself, the Expo 2020 is a lure for activities held by Brazil’s public and private sector in other venues in Dubai, and Apex-Brazil has participated in several of them like Invest in Brazil Dubai in November 2021. Trade shows like Beautyworld Middle East in October 2021 or even Gulfood, to take place next February, become part of the interactive schedule of Expo 2020 Dubai.
Business
This calendar has generated business for Brazil. “The business side is a focus of Brazil’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai,” Apex-Brasil says. Apex-Brazil mentions the beauty & cosmetics and specialty coffee industries as some that have opened business fronts and says that the returns earned are not only from business itself but from doors opened, relationships established, the country’s promotion and position, and others.
Brazil pavilion has welcome numerous foreign business delegations, government and economic representatives of partner countries interested in doing business with Brazilians. According to Apex-Brazil, these have revolved around many industries besides food and beverages.
“We managed to show that Brazil is attractive for acquiring world-class products and services ranging from energy production and carbon neutrality to care with water and riverside populations,” Apex-Brasil said, adding that a potential for tourism and investment in infrastructure has been showcased.
Results
Apex-Brasil says it’s very pleased with the performance of the Brazil pavilion and the activities developed so far and says the success of the Brazilian presence in the Expo 2020 Dubai represents years of hard work of the many teams of Apex-Brasil. “So far, the feedback has been quite positive from all partners that have worked with us throughout the event,” the Agency says, adding that it expects more fruits of the participation to be beared n the following months. “We’re certain that Expo 2020 Dubai will keep generating positive results for Brazil for a long period of time after its end on March 31,” Apex-Brasil told ANBA.
Translated by Guilherme Miranda
