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

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.

Expo City Dubai: what will it be like to visit the legacy site?

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.

Malaysia’s tropical rainforest and the urgent need to save the ancient trees in the battle against climate change will be the story of the country’s pavilion at the Expo 2020 Dubai. Courtesy: Malaysia Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai

The wooden poles at the Malaysia pavilion represent the trees of the rainforest and will be lit up at night to represent the fireflies in mangroves found in certain areas of the country. Courtesy: Malaysia Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai

The roof of the Malaysia pavilion has 40 solar panels attached as part of energy efficiency plans for the structure. Courtesy: Malaysia Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai

Exhibition halls, business centre and a cafe will be housed in the suspended sections and in the sunken basement gardens that will make up the Malaysia pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. Courtesy: Malaysia Pavilion Expo 2020 Dubai

“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.

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.

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.

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