Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1405706
NEWS 12 29 AUGUST 2021 O perators in the Real Estate and Construction sector are invited to join the Minister for the Environ- ment, Climate Change and Planning, Aar- on Farrugia and Parliamentary Secretary for Construction Chris Agius, on a high level trade delegation visiting the Malta Pavilion at Dubai Expo and Cityscape 2021 for contact building, networking meetings, discussions and other opportu- nities. Dubai is gearing up to host the World Expo - a year after it was originally sup- posed to be held. Held every five years, expos see hundreds of countries using pavilions to show off the latest in architecture and technology. e pandemic forced the event to be postponed, and it will now run from 1 Oc- tober to 31 March 2022. e high-level visit is planned to take place from the 5th to the 10th of Novem- ber 2021, and interested parties are invited to express their interest by not later than 15th September 2021 on email: fairs@ propertymalta.org Dubai World Expo: Key facts • More than 190 countries are taking part, in the first such event to be held in the Middle East • e Expo is expected to boost Du- bai's economy by $33bn (£24bn) and to create up to 300,000 jobs • e site covers 4.3sq km, or 613 football pitches, and the Expo will have its own metro station • Uber will be testing flying cars dur- ing the event • Some 90% of the materials used to in construction will then be used to create permanent buildings after- wards Dubai is famous for being home to the tallest building in the world and its white sand beaches. It has transformed itself from a desert backwater port into a thriv- ing financial and tourism hub within a generation. But the World Expo is the most ambi- tious project for the country. e event is also at the heart of the UAE's plans for diversifying its economy away from oil. Dubai also been one of the few cities to keep its economy open since July last year when most of the world was under lock- down. Cityscape 2021 Organisers of this year's Cityscape Global are hoping to capitalise on the internation- al audience attracted to Expo 2020 Dubai as the annual event is moved from its tra- ditional setting to the heart of the global showpiece. Cityscape Global's 20th edition is set to run from 9 to 11 November. Chris Speller, group director of City- scape, Informa Markets, said Cityscape had a real opportunity to reach out to an international audience, a new audience. "For a very large percentage of countries participating at the Expo, real estate is one of the revenue streams for their own coun- try's GDP," he said. "We're working with as many of those pavilions as we can to bring them in so when visitors come they can visit the Expo – I've had very brief glimpses of it and it's going to be spectacular – we're hoping to get some of that audience excit- ed about the real estate side and feed into the exhibition itself." A property glut and faltering demand in Dubai have driven prices down by more than a third since the market peaked some seven years ago. e decline has been made worse by the coronavirus pandemic. Leading Dubai developer Damac has long called for a halt on new projects, while building giant Emaar announced last year that it was temporarily stopping new project launches. Speller said that, while in the age of coro- navirus grand announcements traditional- ly associated with Cityscape Global may be few and far between, there is much to be excited about this year's event. He said: "What we have seen is the ability to launch new projects isn't around at the moment. at's not the focus. e focus for us is to still offer value back to the real estate market. "e physical show is going to be more about the brands and allowing you to set up meetings. You'll see the show will be less around massive models, less around the big fanfare but more about, these are projects that are being delivered, this is what is was, this is what it's going to be. Real estate and construction trade delegation visiting Dubai Parliamentary secretary Chris Agius Government approves 69 out of 94 applications on carbon footprint incentive recommended by the MDA e Malta Developers Association is very pleased to note that the scheme launched in Oc- tober for grants of up to €200,000 to help the con- struction industry become more environmentally friendly has been very successful with 69 applica- tions out of 94 being approved by government. MDA had suggested this incentive, which was also the first of its kind when it comes to the con- struction industry, in order to drastically lessen the carbon footprint through the use of cleaner machinery, emphasising the importance of tran- sitioning to sustainable eco friendly operations in order to reach national targets and bring the in- dustry in line with the needs of the future. MDA thanks government, Malta Enterprise and all the companies that took part in this scheme for its success which augurs well for the indus- try's future. Denise Micallef Xuereb, Vice-Presi- dent of MDA and Chair of the Contractors Com- mittee within the association stated that : "is scheme will help contractors to make the investment needed to transition to greener ways of operation – primarily this includes lower emis- sion rates but it will also mean that more modern equipment will lead to reduced noise pollution. is scheme is not to add new machinery to an existing fleet but to replace certified and existing machinery with environmentally friendly equip- ment whilst scraping the existing. I am sure that this will be a starter to motivate more companies to do similar investments who can appreciate the benefits that this type of modern machinery will leave on who is using them, third party neigh- bours as well as reap the benefits of reduced con- sumption rates. As MDA we fully support any similar initiatives as it is only through such measures that we can start making a real difference together."