Doha: Over 80 percent development work for the International Horticultural Exhibition Expo 2023 Doha Qatar has been completed, said a top official.
A huge facility spanning 1,700,000 sqm is being developed in Al Bidda Park in the heart of Doha to house Expo 2023 Doha.
The six-month long event, scheduled to be held from October 2, 2023, to March 28, 2024, with the participation of over 80 countries, is expecting over 3 million visitors.
“The Public Works Authority (Ashghal) is developing a facility to house Expo 2023 Doha. The facility is 80 complete,” said Eng Fatima Al Abd Al Malik, Project Manager of Expo 2023 Doha at Ashghal.
Speaking to The Peninsula on the sidelines of a recent event, she said that two technologies for greenery are being adopted for the Expo facility — first one is the surrounded area called MSE wall and the second one is hydroponic structure. A Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) retaining wall is a composite structure consisting of alternating layers of compacted backfill and soil reinforcement elements, fixed to a wall facing.
“These two technologies will help us in rationalisation of water consumption for the greenery by reducing the temperature,” said Al Malik.
She said Ashghal is also developing pavilions for the participating countries from all over the world as well as a Qatari pavilion, the Netherlands' pavilion and VIPs pavilion at Expo 2023 Doha.
“The Expo house building will be 12 metres in height, comprising ground floor plus two storeys,” said Al Malik.
Secretary-General of the National Committee for hosting Expo 2023 Doha, Mohammed Ali Al Khouri in a presentation at a recent event said: “The Ministry of Municipality will organise the International Horticultural Exhibition Expo 2023 Doha Qatar from October 2, 2023 to March 28, 2024.”
He said that this huge global horticultural event, the first-of-its-kind in the GCC and MENA region will serve Qatar, GCC states and other desert countries.
“A number of research works to combat desertification will be tabled during the expo.
The theme of Expo 2023 Doha is “Green Desert, Better Environment”, which aims to inspire and inform guests and the international community about innovative solutions to mitigate desertification,” said Al Khouri.
Expo 2023 Doha will introduce advanced techniques and solutions to boost the agriculture sector and to combat desertification for addressing climate change.
Techniques that enable the sustainable cultivation of trees and crops in arid lands play an important role in reversing desertification, evident around the world.