Malaysia's Expo 2020 Dubai pavilion to become a tech and innovation hub

Aerodyne Group, a drone specialist, will use the space as its second international headquarters

Expo City Dubai is set to open in phases from September 2022, with a full relaunch in October. All photos: Pawan Singh / The National

Visitors can take a trip on the Garden in the Sky from September 1 for Dh30.

Later, as residential sectors open, the district will become a '24-hour neighbourhood' in which people live and work, and can visit.

The Expo metro station in June 2022.

Dubai Exhibition Centre in June 2022.

Ahmed Al Khatib, chief development and delivery officer and Marjan Faraidooni, chief visitor experience officer at Expo 2020 Dubai, at a news conference in June 2022 to announce Expo City Dubai.

The entrance gates await new residents and businesses.

Ahmed Al Khatib said the district would be free of single plastics and was built with an emphasis on the environment.

Sheikh Ahmed Bin Saeed, chairman of Dubai Airports, speaking at a press conference welcoming the next chapter at Expo City Dubai.

The Malaysia Pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai site is being transformed into an innovation hub as the legacy site gets ready to reopen soon as Expo City.

The pavilion, renamed Malaysia's Technology and Innovation Hub, is participating in expo’s five-year legacy programme.

It will be used by Aerodyne Group, a Malaysian company that specialises in drone and data technology and digital transformation, as its second international headquarters, a statement on Monday said.

The facility will “become a hub for all things drones, a conduit for innovation and a space for all drone enthusiasts”, Aerodyne's founder and group chief executive, Rabih Bou Rached, said.

Malaysia's participation in Expo 2020 Dubai was led by its Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (Mosti), which created a 1,234 square metre, two-and-a-half storey structure featuring a rainforest canopy. About 40 solar panels on the roof of the pavilion provided 10 per cent of its energy requirements.

It received more than a million visitors during the six-month long Expo period.

“The UAE is a major hub in the West Asian region, which serves as a gateway for Malaysian companies to explore new markets,” said Datuk Abu Hassan, secretary general of Mosti.

“Therefore, our participation in the five-year-legacy programme can also help facilitate Malaysian companies' access to the global market and highlight Malaysia's comprehensive ecosystem, support and infrastructure to investors.

“Through the concept of public-private partnership, Mosti, together with the ministries, government agencies and state governments that focus on technology development, will continue to promote activities and market products and services to the UAE market,” he said.

Expo City will retain many of the fair's popular attractions, such as Al Wasl Dome.

The 4.38 square kilometre site will be car free, and will open in phases from October.

The UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Pakistan, India, Morocco, Luxembourg and Australia pavilions are among those that will stay open and provide new experiences to visitors.