Mohammed bin Rashid receives Secretary General of BIE

Dubai, Feb 29, 2012 (WAM) - Vice President and Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum received yesterday at Zabeel Palace Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), in the presence of H.H. Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai, and H.H. Lt.General Sheikh Saif bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior. Loscertales is visiting the UAE to get insight into assets and potentials that will qualify the UAE to win the bid for hosting 2020 World Expo in Dubai. Sheikh Mohammed and his guest exchanged views on the great economic, tourist and cultural significance of the world event as a gathering for cultures and civilisations and knowledge transfer in array of cultural, social and living issues. Sheikh Mohammed asserted that the UAE, since its establishment, been focusing on building infrastructure of world class standards in areas of health, education, sports, housing, services utilities, tourism and exhibition and other facilities of civilisational renaissance. Sheikh Mohammed said it is the other, not us, who evaluates achievements of our State in this field and other domains, adding that he was confident of the UAE and Dubai's merit and worthiness to host the 2020 World Expo, the large-scale, global, non-commercial Expo. For his part, Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), said he was impressed with the qualitative progress he had seen in the UAE in terms of integrated infrastructure, and its professional human resources on Meetings, incentives, conferences, and exhibitions (MICE). He said the UAE has a world class shopping centres, and transport and communications modes especially in the aviation and mass transit sectors. - Emirates News Agency, WAM