Nissan, the Official Automotive Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai,has hosted the second edition of its three-part Nissan Leadership Series at the Dubai Exhibition Centre last week. Titled “A Momentous Year for Electrification”, the session brought together a select group of experts from relevant fields with the aim to advance dialogue amongst public and private sector stakeholders to accelerate the shift to electric mobility.

Moderated by Abdulilah Wazni, Director of Marketing, Product& Customer Experience at Nissan Middle East, the discussion brought participants together to discuss actions to tackle challenges deriving from climate change with a particular focus on mobility and urban EV infrastructure.Whereby, main guest speaker, Manosh De, Urban Planning Expert at Dubai Municipality, shed light on therole cities must proactively take for a more sustainable living.

Abdulilah Wazni, Director of Marketing, Product&Customer Experience, Nissan Middle East, said “Looking at markets around the world that are leading the way for EVs, and our electrification strategy to realize more sustainable living, we know cross-industry collaboration, public-private partnerships and the right policy frameworks are some of the critical elements for cities to build a supportive EV ecosystem. Through platforms such as Expo 2020 Dubai and our Nissan Leadership Series, we are sharing our global expertise as well as the work we are doing towards the joint development of sustainable mobility systems that benefit local communities.”

Manosh De, Urban Planning Expert, Dubai Municipality, said “As governments set stricter targets to decarbonise their economies, the need for public and private sector collaboration becomes incredibly important.We need to think, plan, and implement differently to transform mobility!Cities will play a major role in testing new planning approaches, creating new connected economies and finding the right balance between regulation and incentives.While we all want to move quickly, we also need to make sure that our steps are practical and implementable as this is what will sustain change.I look forward to further collaborations with the fantastic leadership team that was present today.”

Forming part of the select audience were representatives from top organizations; some of the guests that attended included Nasir Al Shamsi, Director Sustainable Mobility, Bee’ah; Kyle Weber, Chief Executive Officer, EV Lab; Karel Kucera, Managing Director, Continental Middle East; Karim Moussa, Senior Vice President, Siemens and Sam Alawiye, CEO of Green Parking.

The session was part of a three-part leadership series Nissan is hosting at Expo 2020 Dubai, which at the same time has brought aunique opportunity for Nissan to showcase its most exciting innovations of electric vehicles. In the inauguration month of Expo 2020 Dubai, Nissan’s first-ever EV crossover, Ariya, has made an exclusive, region-first, Middle East showcase, demonstrated as a symbol of what is to come for the future of mobility.