Hours after the world expo fair opened in Dubai on Friday, Afghanistan's exhibition remained closed to visitors in a sign of the challenges facing the country's new Taliban rulers.

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Afghanistan is one of nearly 200 nations participating in the six-month fair that was awarded to Dubai eight years ago and faced a year-long delay to the start due to the pandemic.

But the country's pavilion, which was organized by the previous Afghan government before it was driven from power by the Taliban last month, remained unfinished and closed to visitors on Friday.

A security guard at the building where the pavilion is located said they had not seen anyone work there in weeks.

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Dubai opened Expo 2020 in an extravagant ceremony Thursday that bathed the site's signature central dome in light, a symbolic beacon for the city-state's hopes that the world's fair will draw tourists despite the coronavirus pandemic.

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Delayed a year by the virus, Expo 2020 has over 190 countries taking part in the event that will last six months. The futuristic extravaganza, complete with individual pavilions feels like an entire city, built on what were once rolling sand dunes on Dubai's southern edges.

Thursday night's ceremony, attended by Abu Dhabi's powerful Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and a host of other dignitaries, offered the equivalent of a creation myth for Dubai as hundreds of singers, dancers, and acrobats performed. The site's central Al Wasl Dome, made of steel and weighing the equivalent of 25 blue whales, according to Expo organizers, became a 360-degree screen showing images of the desert and nature as sound rolled across the gathered audience.

The Israeli pavilion, designed as an open tent, was designed by Herzliya-based AVS Creative Visual Solutions to be inviting to attendees.

Among those slated to make appearances were Environmental Protection Minister Tamar Zandberg and Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov.

Leaders from a majority of participating countries are set to visit the pavilion, and the Foreign Ministry reported it had drawn a great deal of interest following a preliminary tour by some 30 senior correspondents from the Arab Gulf region and social media influences from the Arab world.

Israel pavilion representative Menachem Gantz told Israel Hayom: "We are earning exciting cooperation on the part of the host country. The Israeli pavilion is a sign of hope at the expo, and journalists who experienced the experience were moved …."

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The global trade exhibition's website said Dubai had confirmed 192 countries had announced their participation and called it "the most inclusive and international Expo ever organized."

The Expo is due to open on Oct. 20, 2020 and close on April 10, 2021.

"Expos are global gatherings where people from around the world come together to celebrate ingenuity and apply it to shared challenges. We are excited to be a part of that common endeavor," a Foreign Ministry spokesman said in a statement.

In a separate statement, Netanyahu said: "I welcome Israel's participation in the Expo in Dubai. It is another sign of Israel's ascending status in the world and in the region."

Israel and Gulf Arab countries share concern over their common enemy, Iran, and diplomacy has become more public after years of mostly covert contact due to strong opposition to Israel's occupation of Judea and Samaria.

Israel has formal diplomatic relations with only two Arab states, neighboring Egypt and Jordan.

But Culture and Sport Minister Miri Regev visited Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque last year and fellow Gulf state Oman hosted Netanyahu on a surprise trip, the first time an Israeli leader had visited the sultanate in 22 years.

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