Tapiwanashe Mangwiro
Harare (News of the South) – THE much hyped Dubai 2020 expo has been postponed to 2021 owing to COVID-19 outbreak which has claimed thousands of lives globally.
In a statement Commissioner Ambassador Mary Mubi said the decision to postpone the event was reached at on Monday the 4th of May 2020 through a two thirds majority of member states of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) which voted in favour of a delay requested by the United Arab Emirates (UAE) government.
“The BIE is cognisant of the negative effects on the Corona virus on participants’ economies and believes that the postponement will allow participants to safely navigate the impact of the virus.
The delay will also allow the World Expo to focus on a collective desire for new thinking to identify solutions to some of the great challenges of our time. Expo 2020 Dubai will however retain its name despite the one year postponement to 2021. This is because of the huge resources already put in the branding process,” she said.
Zimbabwe welcomes the postponement, like any other country which was expected to participate, as it gives ample time to finalise on critical issues of the content programming.
“A lot of milestones has been achieved including the completion of the pavilion design, the commercial proposals, physical objects to the displayed during Expo, identification of products to be sold, and the calendar of events for the six months. A total of 14 companies are working on Zimbabwe’s participation at Expo 2020 on various issues including content creation and programming, research, children’s stories and games and ICT platforms,” she said.
Dubai 2020 expo generated interest within the local economy with allegations of funds embezzlement by local team leaders who have been accused of giving lucrative tenders to their relatives.
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