The pandemic has grounded flights by Dubai’s long-haul carrier Emirates, jeopardized global tourism and caused further panic in a real-estate market.
Local organizers recommended Monday that Dubai’s Expo 2020 should be postponed to next year over the new Coronavirus pandemic, pushing back a world’s fair that the sheikhdom has bet billions of dollars on to rejuvenate its troubled economy.
Reem al-Hashimy, the director-general of Expo 2020, said in a statement that participants had been “significantly impacted” by the virus and the COVID-19 illness it causes.
“The UAE and Expo 2020 Dubai have listened,” al-Hashimy said in the statement. “In the spirit of solidarity and unity, we supported the proposal to explore a one-year postponement.”
The statement also quoted Dimitri S. Kerkentzes, the secretary-general of the Bureau International des Expositions, as saying the recommendation was “welcome” under the circumstances.
The ultimate decision over the event will be made by Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions, which had awarded the fair to this skyscraper-studded city in 2014. That helped boost Dubai’s crucial real-estate market and had officials hoping for more tourists in this city-state that is home to the world’s busiest airport for international travel.
Expo 2020 and the bureau did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.
