As the Expo 2020 Dubai is in full swing, Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA), one of the entities representing Pakistan, is committed to bringing investment in Pakistan and reflecting the future course of the country with a focus on the potential in information technology, environment, culture, tourism, and sports.
The Expo, which started under the theme ‘Connecting Mind and Creating the Future’ on October 1, 2021, and will conclude on March 31, 2022, is providing each country a platform for six months to exhibit its culture and potential.
Pakistan’s pavilion “The Hidden Treasure” has also lined up many cultural, informative, business, and entertainment events to showcase the immense potential and opportunities both in tourism and other economic sectors. It will play a vital role in shaping a new era for Pakistan’s tourism, culture, and investment.
It is to note RUDA is dedicated to developing Pakistan’s first master-planned city, Ravi Riverfront City, after six decades. Based on futuristic planning and full of all the modern facilities, the city will possess immense socio-economic potential, aiming to improve the financial ecosystem of the country.
Ravi Riverfront City has a lot of potential projects to offer to the investors including IT Parks, Technology City; Knowledge Park spanning over 260 acres and comprising world-class universities and research centers; Renewable Energy Parks; Medical City with 2,000 acres of a dedicated area for preventive medicine, Medical Research Centers and a state-of-the-art hospital.
These self-sustaining projects provide a secure economic climate for investment in different sectors including knowledge economy, information technology, health, sports, environment, and tourism. The aim is to gather local and international sectors under one shelter and promote industrial technology and businesses to the benefit of local and global markets.
Presenting those countless opportunities to the investors and business communities at an international forum like Dubai Expo 2020, RUDA will attract investors from across the world. Several Memoranda of Understanding are likely to be signed with investors, which will spur investment inflow, generate business activity, create employment opportunities and boost the economy of Pakistan.
RUDA holds the potential to boost the tourism sector of the country. Pakistan is a prospective tourist hub as declared by Forbes magazine, Conde Nast, Lonely Planet, UNESCO, and British Backpackers Society, and Dubai Expo 2020 has given a platform to reinforce that breathtaking beauty of Pakistan.
RUDA exhibits how keen Pakistan is on developing and adding to tourist resorts. The world’s largest riverfront city expanding over 46 kilometers, with an amazing mixture of natural and semi-natural resorts including theme parks, botanical gardens, algae parks, butterfly parks, bird sanctuaries, and wetlands in eco-parks, will attract tourists to Pakistan.
Moreover, it will also showcase Pakistan’s prime and most sought-after spot of the future, “Tourism and Entertainment City”, being developed at Ravi Urban city with an aim to preserve the cultural heritage of Lahore. With the blend of urban activities, this cultural city will flourish tourism industry and ecotourism by heading through historic fisherman villages and cultural activities along the riverbanks.
Besides ecotourism, RUDA will also promote sports tourism in Pakistan at Dubai Expo 2020. Dedicated sports city constituting stadia, arenas, athlete’s village, equestrians, golf-themed residential development, motorsports facilities including an F1 circuit, and international sports centers will become an ultimate destination for world-class sports events.
RUDA at Dubai Expo will also become a prism through which the world can behold the course of rapid yet eco-friendly and sustainable development that Pakistan has adopted. Pakistan’s futuristic vision was also endorsed by World Bank’s lending data for 2021, which showed 44% (highest in the world) of the country’s development funding was directed to environment-friendly projects.
RUDA is also one of those flagship projects in which development is being made to heal naturally instead of destroying it. Aiming at protecting the environment of Lahore and its suburbs, RUDA has become vitally important for the sustainability of rapidly urbanizing Lahore city. Under RUDA, a comprehensive plan has been mapped out to revive River Ravi and the waterbed of Lahore that has dropped down and dried up to a dangerous extent. The construction of three barrages to stimulate conservation of water resources, as well as afforestation, will rejuvenate the groundwater table of Lahore and help nature heave a sigh of relief.
It is interesting to note how different afforestation and regeneration efforts are being made to restore Lahore’s green cover. On the one hand, new trees are being planted, and instead of axing down the existing trees, they are being relocated to other places. Restoration and expansion of Rakh Jhok forest – the first smart forest in Pakistan – is another phenomenal project under the umbrella of RUDA.
Smart sensor monitoring will be put in action to protect 10 million plants of over 5,000 different compatible flora, which will be planted across 3,071 acres. The project will play a role in reversing the loss of biodiversity and will become home to 13 different kinds of migratory birds. Moreover, Urban Farming has been made a major part of Ravi Urban City’s master planning.
Progressive agricultural techniques will be implemented to introduce a new trend of farming and agriculture in the urbanized environment. Greenhouse farming and vertical farming will become exemplary projects meant to cater to the needs of a growing population in an urban setup. The concept is novel in the country and set to become one of the biggest highlights of this project.
Simply put, Dubai Expo 2020 is a unique opportunity to grasp and RUDA, under the theme ‘Future is Pakistan’, is all motivated to exploit the platform for the betterment of the country. By projecting the promising yet sustainable socio-economic prospects that the country holds, RUDA will augment investors’ confidence and improve the overall financial milieu of Pakistan in general, and in particular, Lahore.
