Turnover of the Expo 2020-owned facilities is expected by the end of this year 192 countries have confirmed participation at the upcoming world expo DUBAI: Organizers on Tuesday gave a glimpse of the ongoing construction of the vast Expo 2020 site located south of Dubai, one year ahead of the World Expo’s opening in October next year. Journalists from different parts of the world were bused in for a quick tour of Sustainability District – one of Expo’s major areas – as well as the nine-story media center. A rooftop view from the almost-finished media facility also had construction workers busy with Al Wasl Dome, the central building at the site which will host the Expo’s major events. Building activity was also at a fast pace in the other two areas, the Mobility and Opportunity districts, as seen from the rooftop of the media center. Massive cranes, heavy equipment and construction materials were seen at the site. Turnover of the Expo 2020-owned facilities is expected by the end of this year, while individual country pavilions have their own deadlines to finish construction, organizers told Arab News. Some countries have already either broken ground or started building their pavilions, including Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Japan. Others are expected to break ground in the coming months. 192 countries have confirmed participation at the upcoming world expo. Saudi Arabia’s pavilion was one of the prominent constructions at the site, with the slant metal structure visible from the media center’s roof deck. The pavilion resembles a “huge window opening up from the ground and soaring into the sky.” The tour was part of a three-day global media briefing, which started with a count-down concert on Sunday by American singer Mariah Carey at Burj Park. The six-month Expo 2020, to be held at a vast new site in the south of Dubai, will officially open on Oct. 20 next year, with organizers expecting an estimated 25 million visitors.