Demands to postpone Dubai Expo 2020
The world expo 2020 in Dubai is heading for a delay of at least one year, in a severe blow to the UAE economy, which was placing great hopes on the exhibition.
The organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai said that the steering committee agreed to consider postponing the opening of the global exhibition for a year after requests from member countries affected by the emerging coronavirus.
A statement issued by the organizers stated that the Executive Committee of the International Office of Fairs and its General Assembly will take a final decision regarding the postponement of the event, which was scheduled to start next October.
Reem Al Hashemi, Director General of the Expo 2020 Dubai office, said, “many countries were greatly affected by Covid-19, and then these countries expressed their need to postpone the opening of Expo 2020 Dubai for a year, which would allow them to overcome this challenge.” She added that the UAE supports This proposal.
And Expo 2020 Dubai held a second “remote” meeting for its steering committee, with representatives of the countries participating in the international event, as part of the ongoing consultations on the impact of “Covid-19” on the world’s preparations for Expo 2020 Dubai.
The committee agreed on the request of the International Bureau of Exhibitions, which is the intergovernmental organization responsible for the International Expo, to study the issue of postponing the opening of Expo 2020 for a period of one year within the applicable legal framework.
The International Exhibitions Bureau will now work with Member States and Expo 2020 Dubai organizers to consider changing appointments.
The General Assembly of the International Bureau of Exhibitions alone has the right to take the final decision on the postponement, and Article 28 of the Convention of the International Bureau of Exhibitions stipulates that any amendment to the dates necessitates the vote of the Member States by a two-thirds majority.
The government spent billions of dollars building hotels and facilities, anticipating millions of visitors. With the spread of the Coronavirus in the Middle East, the UAE authorities closed the airports to the movement of passengers and urged the residents to stay in their homes.
The World Expo due this year in Dubai in the UAE was receiving a new blow by announcing that one of the exhibition’s employees was infected with the emerging coronavirus, amid human rights concerns about neglecting the safety of workers to equip its facility.
Organizers of Expo 2020 Dubai, which is scheduled to start in October, said that one of the employees was infected with the Coronavirus, stressing at the same time that “work continues and all necessary support services are provided to allow construction work to proceed on the site.”
A source familiar with the matter said that the infected employee works in the Expo 2020 Dubai office, claiming that he “did not contact any of the Expo employees or contractors outside the main Expo offices during working hours over the past two weeks.”
The spokesman stated that the organizers review plans and preparations periodically in line with the directives of the authorities in the Emirates and the relevant international parties.
And international human rights organizations expressed grave concern about the failure of the UAE to consider the health and safety of thousands of workers working in preparing Expo 2020 facilities in light of the risks of the spread of Coronavirus.
