CNES & French Expo Pavilion signs partnership agreement with World Expo 2020 in Dubai

CNES and COFREX (Compagnie Française des Expositions) signed a partnership agreement concerning CNES’s presence in the French Pavilion at World Expo 2020 in Dubai.

The World Expo in Dubai will run from October 20th 2020 to April 10th 2021. Covering 438 hectares and focused on the theme of ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the future’, broken down into three sub-themes, ‘Opportunity’, ‘Mobility’ and ‘Sustainability’, it will be the first World Expo ever held in the Middle East, Africa and South Asia region.

The French Pavilion, titled ‘Light, Lights’, will be in the Mobility zone. It will reflect France’s international vision and serve as an exceptional showcase for the nation’s contribution to culture, science and industry. The French Pavilion aims to make this world event a source of social cohesion and to make a strong national brand statement. Today’s technologies afford the ability to extend such an event in time and space so that it can be experienced and shared by all and embedded in the collective consciousness.

As a premium partner of the French Pavilion, CNES will be inviting visitors to discover French space activities through films, satellite pictures and mock-ups. The themes of space exploration, climate action, launchers, innovation, telecommunications and international cooperation will give everyone the opportunity to learn more about space today and what it will look like tomorrow. At World Expo 2020, France’s world-renowned know-how and expertise in space will be on show for all to see. Throughout the set-up period of the event, CNES is relaying satellite pictures of the exhibition site in Dubai with a close-up of the French Pavilion that can be viewed at the facilities of COFREX in Paris and Expo 2020 site in Dubai.

After signing today’s partnership agreement, CNES President Jean-Yves Le Gall commented: “I am pleased to have sealed this partnership agreement through which CNES will be providing a strong presence in the French Pavilion of World Expo 2020 in Dubai. CNES is a prime mover of international space cooperation, driving economic diplomacy and extending France’s international influence.”

“We are very pleased to have CNES as one of our partners. Technological innovation is a core theme of this World Expo 2020 in Dubai and a key issue on which the French Pavilion intends to focus,” added Erik Linquier, Commissioner General for the French Pavilion and Chairman of COFREX.