The event will now run from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022.
Expo 2020 Dubai postponed by a year after vote
01 June 2020
Expo 2020 Dubai organisers have announced that the member states of Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) had voted with a two-thirds majority in favour of postponing the next World Expo by one year.
The event will now run from October 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, a delay that allows all participants to safely navigate the impact of Covid-19 and help shape a post-pandemic world and create a better future for all. It also allows the World Expo to focus on a collective desire for new thinking to identify solutions to some of the greatest challenges of our time, said the organisers.
Expo 2020 Dubai Higher Committee Chairman Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum said: “We welcome the decision of BIE member states to support the delay. We are thankful to them for their continued commitment to contributing to a World Expo in Dubai that will play a pivotal role in shaping our post-pandemic world at a time when it will be most needed.”
“We have sought to build over the last 50 years bridges, connections, and partnerships around the world because we believe in genuine collaboration to safeguard the future of all,” stated Sheikh Ahmed, who is also the chairman of Dubai Airports, President of the Dubai Civil Aviation Authority, Chairman and Emirates Group CEO. “This swift and overwhelming vote reflects the strength of our international partnerships and truly reflects the positive role the UAE and Dubai play with all countries around the world.”
Sheikh Ahmed said this affirmation by the international community of Dubai’s offering and its ability to deliver, further strengthens its commitment to matching ambition with achievement to hosting an event that will capture the world’s imagination, when the time is right.
With a BIE General Assembly impossible to stage due to Covid-19 restrictions, member states voted remotely on the BIE Executive Committee’s recommendation for a delay as proposed by the UAE Government at the beginning of April and recommended by the BIE Executive Committee on April 21. While the vote remained open until May 29, the two-thirds threshold was surpassed within a week of voting opening on April 24.
Dimitri S Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the BIE, said: “I applaud the swift response by BIE member states. Their support for the postponement of Expo 2020 Dubai (which was formally approved on May 29) is a renewed sign of solidarity and demonstrates the shared will to work together in ‘creating the future’.”
“In their support for the one-year postponement of Expo 2020 Dubai, member states of the BIE are giving the world the opportunity to reconvene in 2021, when together, we can address the challenges facing humanity and celebrate the unity and solidarity that strengthen us. With its theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, Expo 2020 Dubai will offer the world a unique platform to share the lessons, solutions and ideas for a better tomorrow,” he added.
