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The Dubai business community on Thursday welcomed the news that the tiny Gulf emirate will host the 2020 World Expo, becoming the first Middle Eastern city to organise the event in its more than 150-year history. Dubai beat off competing bids from Izmir, Turkey; Sao Paulo, Brazil; and Yekaterinburg, Russia, after three rounds of voting by delegates of the 168-nation Bureau International des Expositions in Paris. In line with its reputation for over-the-top glitz, Dubai lit the world's tallest tower with glimmering lights on Wednesday night after the result was announced. The skies around the Burj Khalifa, which towers at 2,717 feet (663 metres), erupted with fireworks. The logo of Dubai's bid for the 2020 Expo was plastered on police cars, convenience store bags, storefronts, taxis, receipts, government buildings and even on a flag on Mount Kilimanjaro. Dubai's Financial Market opened slightly higher on Thursday, as traders celebrated the announcement. Members of the international business community in Dubai welcomed the decision, hoping market reforms would continue. "The Expo and the International Spotlight on Dubai is going to be likely to give the government an incentive to keep on track, stay on track, with making its business environment more transparent, more streamlined, and better regulated," said Coline Schep, an Associate Analyst at the independent consulting firm, Control Risks. "Of course Dubai doesn't want to go back to the situation it faced back in 2009 during the crisis, and it has been making quiet significant economic reforms to prevent that and with the renewed attention of the Expo it is likely to continue with those efforts," she added. Alan Robertson, CEO of real estate firm, Jones Lang LaSalle Middle East and Northern Africa, agreed with this sentiment. "I think one of the reasons why Dubai has been selected is that they have shown, that they can deal with difficult times," Robertson said. "Dubai came through these difficult times with the key parts of Dubai still working and intact and it is now moving on to the next stage of its development and Expo 2020 is a catalyst which will help the city with that," he said. A spending spree was already underway even before officials announced the host city. Dubai estimates a successful Expo 2020 bid will generate 23 billion US dollars between 2015 and 2021, or 24 percent of the city's gross domestic product. They say total financing for the 6-month-long event will cost 8.4 billion US dollars. In a statement after the vote, Dubai ruler and UAE vice president Sheikh Mohammed bin Rahid promised to "astonish the world" in 2020. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/139b910d5d8f2add44fedb38fe62149a Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork