Dubai: Malaysia Pavilion’s Gold Award win at the BIE Day Awards Ceremony in Expo 2020 Dubai marks the country’s first gold victory since it first participated in a world expo in 1970.

The Award won was for Theme Interpretation for  the Expo 2020 Dubai Official Participant Awards involving about 200 countries and organisations, hosted by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).

The award category recognises the Pavilion’s interpretation of the Expo 2020 Dubai’s theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’ with sub-themes of ‘Sustainability’, ‘Mobility’, and ‘Opportunity’. The Pavilions are evaluated on the effectiveness of their communication to the world on their efforts to solve the urgent and pressing challenges connected to the themes.

Bearing the theme of ‘Energising Sustainability’, the Malaysia Pavilion aims to tell the story of how socio-economic progress can happen without the expense of the environment, as the people builds forward towards a sustainable future.

“We are very proud of this accolade by the Expo 2020 Dubai organisers. It reflects Malaysia’s success in telling the world of our nation’s commitment towards sustainability by maintaining our biodiversity. We hope that we have left a positive impact on our visitors to the Malaysia Pavilion to inspire change in any capacity that they can,” said Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation, Dato’ Sri Dr. Adham Baba.

“This is also a momentous win for our great nation as Malaysia wins its first ever Gold Award at the World Expo.

“As the lead Ministry spearheading Malaysia’s participation at Expo 2020 Dubai, we extend our heartiest gratitude to everyone who have contributed to our Pavilion’s success of telling our Malaysian story, “ added Dr Adham Baba.

Secretary-General of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation Malaysia who is also Commissioner-General of Malaysia for Expo 2020 Dubai, Datuk Zainal Abidin Abu Hassan said, “This Award is a testament to the creative minds of Malaysians as we purposefully designed this Pavilion to be environmentally sustainable – with everything from the build to the sourcing of raw materials, and to its energy source. Our efforts also earned us the recognition as the first Net Zero Carbon installation at the Expo 2020 Dubai.”

Malaysia was also awarded an honourable mention for the Best Sustainable Design in the EXHIBITOR Magazine’s World Expo Awards, which saw the Austria Pavilion taking first place. This World Expo Awards recognises how pavilions leverage design, technology, presentation, and storytelling to create immersive experiences and effectively communicate compelling messages.

The awards add to the sucess of Malaysia’s participation in Expo 2020 Dubai. On 30 March 2022, Malaysian Prime Minister The Honourable Dato' Sri Ismail Sabri bin Yaakob announced that Malaysia garnered a total of RM70 billion (USD 16.6 billion) in trade and investment leads throughout Expo 2020 Dubai.  

Expo 2020 Dubai recently concluded on 31 March 2022 after six months up and running since 1 October 2021. The quinquennial historic event is recognised as the third most attended event in the world, following the FIFA World Cup and Olympics. The next World Expo will be hosted in Osaka, Japan in 2025.

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ABOUT MALAYSIA PAVILION AT EXPO 2020 Dubai

Malaysia's self-built 1,234.05 sq meter pavilion is the first net zero carbon pavilion at the EXPO. The Pavilion features a rainforest canopy inspired by the majestic tropical rainforest of Malaysia, blending cultural elements with nature and functionality into a futuristic building.  

The Pavilion carries the theme "Energising Sustainability" to represent the nation's commitment and approach to sustainable development. It is segmented into four sub-themes; "Energising Today", "Energising Tomorrow", "Energising Harmony" and "Energising Business". Malaysia's activities during the EXPO will include permanent 3D displays, daily cultural performances, craft demonstrations, café operations as well as 26 weekly thematic trade and business programmes. 

The business weeks will involve a large contingent of 21 ministries, 70 departments and agencies and five state governments initiating and supporting the programmes. They will also bring weekly business delegations from the industry that will participate in pocket talks, product launches, business matching sessions and signing of MoUs. Malaysia Pavilion will also host and participate in summits and forums throughout Expo. 

The Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation is the lead ministry for Malaysia's participation at the mega event.  Malaysian Green Technology and Climate Change Corporation (MGTC) is the implementing agency.