DUBAI (Reuters) – The first world fair to be held in the Middle East, Expo 2020 Dubai, opened on Thursday with a lavish ceremony of fireworks, music and messaging about the power of global collaboration for a more sustainable future.

Open house was televised in public places around Dubai and featured the stars of the event, including the Italian singer Andrea Bocelli, Ellie Goulding (British singer), Lang Lang Lang (Chinese pianist) and Mohammed Abdu (Saudi singer).

Dubai, the region’s trade, tourism, and business center, hopes to increase its economy through 25 million tourist and business visits to the fair. It has been constructed from scratch on 4.3 square kilometers (1.7 miles) of desert.

The expo is a major international event that will be open to all visitors for the first time since the pandemic. It has been viewed by many countries and businesses as a way to increase trade and invest.

After being closed for almost a year due to the pandemic, Friday will see more than 200 exhibitors open their doors at the expo. The event was chosen eight years ago as a follow-up to the 2015 Expo held in Milan, Italy. It cost $6.8 million.

Dubai claims it hopes the Expo will be a showcase of culture and technology as well as architecture, under the slogan “Connecting Minds and Creating the Future”. It will be a display of innovation and a space where international challenges like conflict, climate change and economic growth can all be tackled together.

Expo will likely face a global reluctance of travelers and many events will also be broadcast live online. Expo is still expected to receive more visitors than Milan, and twice as many people from the UAE.

Reem al Hashimy (Exexpo 2020 Dubai) stated that they were confident.

While the Gulf has eased most coronavirus restrictions, Expo still requires that visitors aged 18 and older wear face masks.

EY, a consultancy, predicted that Expo would contribute 1.5% to UAE’s gross domestic products over its six month duration.