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DUBAI / Emirates Business
The total value of the top 10 active projects linked to Expo 2020 has exceeded $32.7 billion (AED120 billion) as of March 31, according to BNC Network, the largest project intelligence provider in the MENA region.
There are various high value projects across different sectors that are being developed in the UAE which will impact or contribute to the success of Expo 2020, however as per BNC Construction Intelligence Report, the estimated value of major projects having an impact and can be classified as major Expo-related construction activities is $42.5 billion (AED156 billion) in Dubai.
Among these, $17.4 billion is spent on major infrastructure and transport projects, while $13.2 billion is spent in major housing (commercial and residential properties) and $11 billion spent on major hospitality projects, such as hotels, destination and theme parks.
The report comes barely two and a half years before the historic World Expo 2020 kicks off in October 2020 — by when Dubai’s urban fabric and skyline will expand significantly. The city’s skyline is currently dominated by skyscrapers and tower cranes on construction sites where contractors are racing against time to complete these
projects ahead of schedule.
Among these projects, expansion of Al Maktoum International Airport’s Phase I tops the list with $8 billion (AED29.36 billion). Al Maktoum International is part of an aerotropolis — airport city — that covers a landmass of 140 square kilometres or ten times the size of Dubai International Airport that has an updated design capacity to handle more than 100 million passengers per annum. Al Maktoum International, the world’s largest green field airport with a design capacity to handle 160 million passengers per annum.