The UAE government has proposed a new start date for Expo 2020 Dubai. In the proposal, the event would begin on October 1, 2021 and run until 31 March, 2022. Roughly 12 months after the initial start of the event. In late March, the Expo General Director announced plans to postpone the global event to allow the world to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic. In a moving clip, the organisers explained their decision.

By Arthur Blok
The decision to postpone Expo 2020 was not an easy one, the organisation explains on its website, but it is evident to them that ‘this is not the right time’ to hold the event. COVID-19 has significantly affected many participating countries, and they have requested a one-year postponement of the Expo’s opening to address this challenge.

“We continue to face a global situation that is both fast-moving and unpredictable. Over the last several weeks, we have been working hard, both internally and in consultation with key UAE and international stakeholders, to review the ongoing impact of COVID-19 on our plans and preparations for Expo 2020 Dubai,” the organisation said.

First expo in the Arab world
Dubai Expo 2020 was scheduled to open to the public on October 20, 2020. The Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) in Paris awarded Dubai as the host in November 2013. The first World Expo in the Middle East is expected to attract 25 million visitors. It is organised under the theme ‘Connecting Minds, Creating the Future’, intended to provide a platform to foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration globally.

The six-month celebration will welcome more than 200 international participants, including representatives from 192 nations. Expo 2020 has three important pillars: Opportunity, Mobility and Sustainability. The latter being the most fundamental, from the early planning through the design and execution of the exhibition site. It is even expected to be one of the most sustainable World Expo ever.

Expo’s plans
The decision to postpone the event by one year was made by the BIE, not the organisers in Dubai. “In the spirit of solidarity and unity, we support the proposal to explore a one-year postponement. We will follow the BIE processes in deciding to delay Expo 2020. The BIE will now work with its Member States and Expo 2020 Dubai to establish a change in dates,” the expo website explained.

The event takes place every five years and bills itself as a festival of innovation, creativity and exploration. Previous inventions unveiled at the show include the telephone in Philadelphia in 1876, the Eiffel Tower in Paris in 1889, touchscreens in Knoxville in 1982 and a humanoid robot in Nagoya in 2005.