The construction of the US pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai will be completed in November, John Rakolta, the US Ambassador to the UAE, said on Tuesday.
“The construction of the pavilion is progressing according to our schedule. We look forward to substantial buildings’ completion sometime around 15th November,” he said during a virtual media roundtable with a select group of journalists.
The UAE has contributed US$60 million towards the construction of the US Pavilion and the remaining amount will be raised by various US organisations, Rakolta said without revealing the total cost.
“It [the expo participation] is one of the [US] embassy’s top priorities. We look forward to the very best of American participation. It gives us an opportunity to celebrate the UAE’s golden jubilee and many achievements of this nation,” Rakolta explained.
The ambassador who just returned from Washington after witnessing the signing of historic Abraham Accords between Israel, the UAE and Bahrain, said the Israeli participation in Expo 2020 Dubai will show “the inclusiveness of not only the Emirates but of the entire region as well, and how we are moving to a much more inclusive society here.”
It will bring all kinds of additional benefits, “the biggest ones, of course, in trade and investments, tourism, job opportunities, and peace,” the envoy added.
The US pavilion themed ‘Life, Liberty and the pursuit of the future’ will showcase a cultural programme, for which recruitment of artists and performers from across the United States has already been started, he revealed.
They will represent their territories and regions as America’s Cultural Ambassadors at the Expo, Rakolta said, adding that the cultural programmes will display “the geographic and cultural richness of the United States and its territories.”
