Building Investment (March-April 2022)

NEWS & EVENTS
Malaysia Pavilion will join Expo 2020 Dubai’s
five-year legacy programme, says minister
DUBAI, 29 March 2022 – The Malaysia Pavilion will be joining
Expo 2020 Dubai’s five-year legacy programme and will be
maintained and repurposed, Dato’ Sri Dr Adham Baba, Malaysia’s
Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI)
announced on Tuesday (29 March).
The pavilion – located in Jubilee – is set to become the
Malaysian Technology and Innovation Hub in the UAE and will
be government-owned and operated by a private Malaysian
company under Expo 2020 Dubai’s legacy programme, according
to the minister.
Speaking at a press conference at the pavilion, HE Dato’ Sri
Dr Adham Baba said: “The Malaysia Pavilion’s transformation
into the Technology and Innovation Hub reflects our country’s
ambition of becoming a globally competitive digital nation. This
also reinforces our government’s commitment to contribute to
the global technology development and to strengthen bilateral
ties and cooperation with the UAE.”
The pavilion will operate on a public-private partnership
model where both the Malaysian government and a private entity
will be able to utilise the facility to host officials and dignitaries,
as well as serve as a platform to promote technology-based
products and services.
Malaysia’s homegrown drone service provider Aerodyne
Group was selected to take over the operations at the pavilion,
and will also be using it as their second global headquarters.
A committee, chaired by Datuk Zainal Abidin Abu Hassan,
MOSTI’s Secretary General, oversaw the selection of the company
to ensure that the candidates met the programme’s criteria of
being a key player in the sectors of smart city, smart logistics,
smart mobility or Industry 4.0.
The Expo 2020 Dubai five-year legacy programme is part of
the UAE government’s long-term initiative of repurposing the
event site as an integrated mixed-use community, known as
District 2020. District 2020 will evolve from Expo 2020 Dubai as
a smart and sustainable city centred on the needs of its urban
community. It will provide a curated innovation-driven business
ecosystem that brings together global minds and embraces
technology and digital innovation to support industry growth.
Under the theme ‘Energising Sustainability’, the current
pavilion represents Malaysia’s commitment and approach to
sustainable development and features a rainforest canopy
inspired by the country’s majestic tropical rainforests, blending
cultural elements with nature and functionality to create a
futuristic building.
10 March-April 2022 | www.b-i.biz