The organizers of Dubai Expo 2020 will soon discuss a possible opening delay of up to a year, due to the global coronavirus pandemic, reveals the officials from the countries involved.
Postponement of the expo by a year is one of the several other options to be discussed during a conference call to be held next week. The organizers, however, have not ruled out the October-start as was scheduled, they said.
A final decision on this will have to be made by member states of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which awards the event.
The Government officials and business leaders in Dubai have invested billions of dollars building hotels and facilities, expecting millions of visitors.
Now, with the spread of the virus, Dubai has shut airports to passenger traffic and urged residents to stay home, as there are 333 coronavirus cases reported, including two deaths.
The members of Expo Steering Committee will hold a meeting on Monday. The foreign officials from four countries involved revealed that the options in hand ranges from maintain the scheduled opening date, to delaying the expo by a couple of months or up to one year, as was the case during Tokyo Olympics.
A spokesperson for Expo 2020 Dubai emphasized that organizers are continuing to monitor the global pandemic and are reviewing plans and preparations as per the guidelines from UAE and international stakeholders.
Recently, a representative for the BIE said that the steering committee meeting would “reassess and adjust” planned preparations and that any change in date can happen only its members give a two-thirds majority vote for the same.
