Dubai Chamber of Commerce has released a new video in its En Route to the Expo series, featuring Alan Williams, UPS Vice President Expo 2020 Sponsorship & Operations, who shed light on the global company’s initiatives and activities related to the mega event, as well as his views on the future of logistics.
The video series aims to highlight the business community’s active role in Expo 2020 Dubai, showcase the effective tools the event employs to establish contact between local and international business communities, and underline the visions and expectations of industry leaders and decision makers from the UAE taking part in the event.
“‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ is the theme of Expo 2020 Dubai and I think for visitors coming to the Expo, it is a chance for them to really see that in action,” said Williams. “For UPS, [it is an ideal opportunity] to showcase the future of logistics, and to do that, we have partnered with entities who are part of the Expo family: Governments, participating countries, and other partners that we are working with through our exploration programme.”
“Right from the start, we wanted to align the UPS programme at Expo 2020 Dubai with the UAE Government’s plans for sustainability for the future,” he continued. “UPS has a goal of being carbon-neutral by 2050; everything we are doing showcases the future of logistics and is really planned to demonstrate how we can be a great partner to the country, but also our industry and the environment.”
Williams went on to cite a few examples, such as UPS’s electric vehicles, which are fully sustainable. They are powered through a solar charging system using the sun. This is the first time anywhere in the world that UPS has powered an electric vehicle using an off-grid, alternative power source. We are very happy and proud of that. We also use on Expo 2020 site eBikes and eQuads designed to operate in pedestrian-friendly environments and city centres. They have zero emissions, low noise, and they help reduce congestions in urban areas – UPS will continue to deploy them.
The UPS VP for Expo 2020 Sponsorship & Operations continued with another example, citing the work the company does with Dubai Chamber of Commerce. “For the recent 12th World Chambers Congress, which was held in partnership between the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and Dubai Chamber of Commerce, in Dubai, UPS was the official logistics partner,” he said. “We produced a logistics manual so that the more than 100 participating countries knew how to import into Dubai successfully and seamlessly. We also worked with the Chamber [to help ensure that] Dubai continues to be a global trade hub; UPS works at many levels with the Chamber to really create new ways of ensuring that continues into the future.”
“I encourage people to come and see Expo 2020 Dubai,” Williams continued. “You have 192 countries from all around the world in one place. The opportunity to connect and engage in the themes of sustainability, mobility, or opportunity is really a once-in-a-lifetime chance for anybody visiting – not only for companies like UPS, who can really showcase the future of logistics, but for every country to demonstrate what they see as the future. Expo 2020 is also a chance to individually engage as a visitor within this futuristic environment.”
As part of its role as Official Business Integration Partner for Expo 2020 Dubai, Dubai Chamber of Commerce plays a pivotal role in facilitating partnerships with the global business community during the six-month international event.
Part of Dubai Chamber’s Business Connect initiative, the En Route to the Expo video series was developed in collaboration with Entrepreneur Middle East magazine to provide a platform for public and private sector stakeholders to share their thoughts on what they are expecting from the mega-event, as well as to highlight Dubai’s agile business environment and the unprecedented opportunities created by Expo 2020 Dubai.
