Daily Times

The Pakistan Pavilion at the Dubai Expo 2020 has attracted around 800,000 visitors of diverse nationalities since its opening in October 2021 and stood out as one of the most popular pavilions at the international event.

Themed as “Pakistan: The Hidden Treasures,” the Pakistan Pavilion has been successful in achieving its key objectives, including showcasing the real image of Pakistan, attracting investment and promoting tourism, set for the Dubai Expo 2020. The pavilion organized various events, including business exhibitions, a tourism fair, seminars, workshops, music festivals and a film week film to attract investors and tourists.

In an exclusive talk with this correspondent at the Expo 2020 in Dubai, Rizwan Tariq, Project Director of the Pakistan Pavilion, said: “It is the first official level participation of Pakistan in such kind of event in the world.”

“The response is beyond expectations, and we have achieved all our main objectives,” added Tariq. He said “around 0.8 million visitors” have visited the pavilion so far and hoped to achieve the target of 1 million visitors by the next month. “Among the visitors, mostly are foreigners, which is our success,” added Tariq.

Designed by award-winning artist Rashid Rana, the pavilion’s glittering and colorful façade has taken the visitors by storm. The artistic intervention titled “Unity of All that Appears” comprises 24,000 seemingly identical but all, in fact unique pieces, fractionally different from each other in size and color, meld together in harmony. The design “draws inspiration from the diversity that Pakistan has to offer.” The pavilion showcases Pakistan’s cultural diversity, landscape, heritage and handicrafts and highlights tourism, investment and trade opportunities in the country. The pavilion aims at promoting Pakistan’s soft and progressive image by featuring the past, present, and future.

“We are in coordination with the tourism department and sharing data regarding the number of visitors and the feedback with an aim to boost tourism in Pakistan,” said Tariq.

All the provinces made the most of the event and signed a number of MoUs in different sectors through investment conferences, seminars, workshops and cultural shows.

Tariq said all the provinces were dedicated one month each at the event to promote culture, tourism and investment. He added that October was dedicated to Balochistan, November to Punjab, December to Sindh and January to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Hassan Daud Butt, Chief Executive Officer of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Board of Investment and Trade, said the province has been successful in signing 46 MoUs so far in various sectors such as energy, tourism, information technology and infrastructure. “We expect signing more MoUs during the coming days,” he added.

Pakistan’s leading artists, including Ali Zafar, Gul Parna, Hareem Farooq, Ali Noor and Urooj Fatima, performed at the event and attracted audience to promote Pakistan’s culture and music.

The Dubai Expo 2020, with the participation of 192 countries, commenced on October 1, 2021 – a year late due to the COVID-19 pandemic – and will conclude on March 31, 2022.