World Expo in Dubai: More than ever, France is shining

The ministry in charge of foreign affairs and the deputy minister in charge of attractiveness visited the United Arab Emirates on October 2nd during the France Day held on the second of the Dubai World Expo. Ministers opened the France Pavilion, showcase of the French excellence, which will contribute to make France shine over the 6 months of the World Expo.

“More than ever, France is shining!”. This is what the French minister in charge of attractiveness said during the opening of the France Pavilion of the Dubai Wolrd Expo that “represent the best of what France has to offer”. It’s all there: “The excellence of its talents in science and gastronomy, an industrial excellence, a recognised capacity of innovation, but also traditional sophisticate know-hows, and a rich cultural and philosophical heritage”.  According to the Minister, this Pavilion is indeed “a tool for promoting France and an important means of accelerating its international recovery”.

A showcase for French excellence

The France Pavilion is installed at the heart of this World Expo, an event that will be the largest of 2021 worldwide, and takes the form of a “pavilion of light”. It is intended to be a showcase for French excellence. According to its designers, the Pavilion of France seeks to “rethink progress, create emotions and connections, and release new ideas to reinvent our world”.

By its very design, which is “based on a high level of environmental requirements”, it embodies France’s ambition in this field: to provide sustainable responses to contemporary challenges and to play a full part in international action against global warming. This commitment will be illustrated in particular in the event programme of the Freance Pavilion, whose guiding principle will be the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as defined by the UN. 

Audacity, optimism and collective sense

The aim of the Pavilion during the Dubai World Expo is to “demonstrate France’s commitment to the construction of tomorrow” through political, economic, cultural and social initiatives and actions. In the wake of the postponement of the Expo due to the health crisis, France now wishes to improve its international presence as “one of the leading actors of change”. Still according to its designers, the France Pavilion “echoes this act of commitment to the construction of a new economic, social and cultural model, through three values: audacity, optimism and the collective”.

It should be noted that France Pavilion, open until 31 March 2022, is traditionally one of the most visited pavilions at World Fairs and that more than 25,000 visitors are expected every day.

Strengthened international cooperation

For the first World Expo to be organised in the MEASA region (Africa, Middle East and South Asia), all the countries of the world will be brought together in Dubai to “reflect, propose and implement concrete solutions for the benefit of humanity”.

On a more political or geostrategic level, as the Minister of Foreign Affairs emphasised in his inaugural speech, “the relationship between France and the United Arab Emirates allows the two countries to coordinate closely in the face of regional crises, to develop joint responses to the major challenges facing the planet in the future”, as well as a “joint projection of models of cooperation and of France's influence abroad”. The Minister concluded that “the Emiratis were right to accompany the ebb of the pandemic by projecting themselves into projects and visions for the future and into strengthened international cooperation”.

To know more 

on the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs website:

- The Dubai World Expo puts France in the spotlight

- France Pavilion at the Dubai World Expo

on the government information website

- French excellence under the spotlight in Dubai

- on the World Expo websites:

- France Pavilion

- France Dubai 2020