Expo body proposes to postpone Expo 2020 Dubai for year, but keep name

Billboards advertising the Expo 2020 are seen on display outside the official site in Jebel Ali on 16 September, 2015 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates [Francois Nel/Getty Images]

The awarding body for World Expos has proposed to postpone Expo 2020 Dubai for a year because of the new coronavirus, and member states must vote on it by the end of May to make it final, the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) said on Tuesday.

The event will still be called Expo 2020 Dubai.

Expo is a business and cultural event held every five years in cities around the world chosen by Paris-based BIE. The proposal is to hold it from October 1, 2021 until March 31, 2022.

READ: Campaign calls for boycott of Expo 2020 Dubai

The date change requires the support of a two-thirds majority of BIE member states and voting will be carried out remotely between April 24 and May 29, BIE said.

The United Arab Emirates proposed delaying Expo 2020 Dubai by a year because of coronavirus on March 30, after participating countries asked for a delay as they concentrated on fighting the global pandemic.

It had been due to run from October 20, 2020 to April 10, 2021. The Expo following Dubai is due in Osaka, Japan, in 2025.

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