Proposal to postpone the Dubai World Expo by one year due to COVID-19

The International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) proposed on Tuesday to delay the Dubai World Expo by one year due to the coronavirus pandemic, at the request of the host country. The 12-member Executive Committee, under the French Presidency, unanimously adopted this proposal, which must be endorsed by two-thirds of the 171 Member States at the General Assembly, which will vote remotely from 24 to 29 April.

Dubai expects to receive 25 million visitors to its Expo, 11 million of them foreigners, and revenues of around 30 billion euros (about 32.6 billion dollars). If this proposal for a delay is accepted, the BIE indicated in a press release, the Universal Exposition of Dubai, whose motto is 'Connecting spirits, building the future', will take place between October 1st, 2021 and March 31st, 2022.

“After assessing the unprecedented consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on public health, economic activity and global traffic restrictions, the Executive Committee of the BIE has unanimously recommended to approve the request of the United Arab Emirates to delay the Exhibition,” he said. As with the Tokyo Olympics, the UAE has requested that, despite the delay, the name 'Expo 2020 Dubai' be maintained.

The EIB's Secretary General, Dimitri Kerkentzes, expressed his conviction that the new dates will enable the Expo to fulfil its role of “uniting collective efforts with the shared objective of the progress of humanity”. The Expo will be “the best platform for building, with renewed optimism and hope, a better and more promising future,” he added.

The President of the Executive Committee, Alain Berger, congratulated the Emirates for having taken the necessary measures for an eventual delay, “which shows its determination and commitment to host a truly inclusive and inspiring World Expo”. Some of the participating countries, such as Germany and Austria, had almost finished their pavilion at the Expo.

The Emirate Minister of International Cooperation and Director General of the Expo, Reem Al Hashimy, assured that “she will work with the member countries to accommodate the efforts to the new dates”. 

This is not the first time that an Expo has had to change its dates. In 1937, the Paris World Expo opened several months late, while the 1949 Haiti Expo had to wait several months to open its international part. The Rome Expo in 1942 was suspended even though a pavilion dedicated entirely to Benito Mussolini had already been built. The Brussels edition of 1958 was also changed and the Philadelphia edition of 1976 was cancelled, while Moscow ceded the 1967 edition to Montreal and Chicago ceded the 1992 edition to Seville.