Conakry July 2, 2021. With less than 100 days until the opening of the Dubai World Expo, the Commissioner General, Mr. Gabriel CURTIS, Minister in charge of Investments and Public Private Partnerships held a press conference this morning to inform the public on the progress of Guinea's participation in the first major international event open to the public to be held since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Before an assembly of journalists, the Minister first recalled that World Expos are neither craft fairs nor trade fairs but rather major international events whose objective is public education, the promotion of progress and international cooperation. The Dubai edition, postponed by a year due to the pandemic will take place from October 1^st 2021 to March 31^th 2022. It will be the largest to date and will bring together 192 participating countries on an area of 438ha and will attract to 25 million visits over six months.

In his speech, the Minister wished to underline the commitment of the Guinean Government, which under the leadership of the President of the Republic, Prof. Alpha Condé, aims to use the Expo platform to improve the perception of the country, promote investments and the Guinean private sector as well as encourage more tourists to come and visit our country. A particular emphasis will be placed on the organization of Guinea's national day at Expo 2020 which will be on February 13, 2022. 

Regarding the participation of Guinea, the Minister announced that it will be centered on four axes: 

An innovative pavilion: for the first time the country will have its own pavilion. Called " tap into the source of West Africa ", this 200 m² promotional space for the country will highlight through the prism of water the history, culture, investment opportunities, innovations. and tourist attractions of Guinea. The Minister thanked the many actors from the public, private and civil society sectors who collaborated to build the theme of the pavilion.     

Six months of business programming: The 2^nd edition of the Guinea Investment Forum (GUIF) will be organized from February 11 to 13, 2022 in partnership with the Private Investment Promotion Agency (APIP) to share with the millions of businessmen present the economic potential of Guinea and promote the realization of investment projects. 

Cultural events: Culture will be at the heart of the national day. The legendary Ballet Djoliba will present its show “Postcard from Guinea” and an original musical comedy called Wontanara will be staged. The Minister noted that these shows will present to the expected 15,000 spectators another more attractive image of Guinea based on unique artistic performances that will leave a lasting impression. A demonstration of Guinean gastronomy will be made by Chef Issa to share with the world the richness of the Guinean culinary land. A presentation film of Guinea will also be screened on the Al Wasl, the largest 360 ° projection dome in the world. 

Promotion of " Made in Guinea ": Guinea has two sales areas at Expo, one of 9m² on the pavilion and one of 13m² outside the pavilion in a commercial space. These showcases for Guinean know-how will allow the thirty Guinean companies that have fulfilled the demanding selection criteria of the Dubai authorities to present their products. These companies operate in textiles, food, leather goods, cosmetics, sculpture ... Regarding the sale of products, the Minister wished to inform the public that to offer artisans and producers an opportunity to visit Dubai to sell their products, there is the “Global village ”, a trade fair which will also be held in Dubai in parallel with the World Expo.     

The Minister then presented the key dates on Guinea's agenda during the six months of the Expo and invited the various Guinean actors to come forward to take part: 

·   October 1, 2021: Opening of the Expo 

·   October 13 and 14, 2021 : Global Business Forum Africa  

·   January 11, 2022: Week dedicated to tourism 

·   February 11 to 14, 2022: National day celebrations 

·   February 24, 2022: Week dedicated to agriculture 

·   March 22, 2022: Week dedicated to hydraulics 

·   March 25, 2022: Forum on the blue economy in Guinea and the Niger River 

Following his presentation, Minister Curtis responded to journalists' questions relating in particular to requests for details on the theme of Guinea at the Expo and the level of progress of the achievements. Regarding the theme, he explained that the positioning of Guinea as “ West Africa's water tower ” made obvious the thematic choice of sustainability and water-based development. In terms of progress, he informed that the pavilion is 80% completed and that work is advanced to prepare the various events to be held over the six months.  

In conclusion of his speech, Minister Gabriel CURTIS added that in addition to the investment of the Guinean Government, thanks to the excellent cooperation relations between our country and the United Arab Emirates, Guinea benefits from assistance from the host country for prepare his participation. However, the Guinean private sector is invited to support the country to allow a better success of participation in the largest universal exhibition in history.