The Export Development Board (EDB), which has been behind schedule in terms of preparatory work for the Dubai Expo 2020 for months, will now have ample time to prepare with the expo set to be postponed by a year. EDB is the main steering entity of Sri Lanka’s participation at the Dubai Expo 2020, the next edition of the world’s largest exhibition that brings together 192 countries, and takes place once every five years. Amidst the prevailing pandemic, Dubai Expo 2020 is widely expected to be postponed to 1 October 2021, according to international media reports. The expo was initially scheduled to be held from October 2020 to April 2021. Sri Lanka has been running behind schedule in preparatory work to participate in the Dubai Expo. In fact, Sri Lanka’s participation at the expo was put in doubt as it was six months behind in setting up a local Dubai expo secretariat and finalising an event management company, as revealed by National Chamber of Exports (NCE) CEO Shiham Marikar to The Sunday Morning Business in January this year. While the EDB office had subsequently been picked to serve as the local Dubai expo secretariat, an event management company to plan Sri Lanka’s participation is yet to be finalised. Speaking to The Sunday Morning Business, EDB Market Development Director Anoma Premathilaka noted that now with an additional year available, Sri Lanka can catch up with the timeline and participate in the expo next year. “With this postponement I do not think there will be any issues. We will be able to finish the work on time,” Premathilaka noted. According to the EDB, delays have mainly been due to the change in the Government following the Presidential Election in November 2019. The change in the Government had necessitated EDB to reapprove certain proposals that were approved by the former Government, which had required the EDB at one point to request an extension of certain deadlines from the Dubai Expo management. However, it now seems that the delay is a blessing in disguise as the EDB has not yet made any significant financial investment which would have been a waste otherwise, due to the expected delay of the expo. “We have not invested that much, financially. We have made the arrangements including planning and setting up steering committees. The planning is over now, but again, those are not paid for. Once we finalise an event management company only there will be a financial commitment. We are yet to do it,” she added. Accordingly, discussions are underway to make the necessary changes and adjustments, due to the delay of the expo, while other works will resume once the curfew is lifted in Colombo. Dubai was selected as the venue for the expo in 2013 and since then, the city has been prepping for the expo and was prepared to kick-start it in October this year. As reported by international media, due to requests from the participating countries to postpone the expo, the steering committee of the expo had requested a one-year postponement from the Bureau International des Exposition (BIE) in Paris. A decision on this will be arrived at after voting, which concludes on 29 May, if a two-thirds majority is in favour of postponement. According to the initial plan, the expo will mainly focus on tourism, investment promotion, and trade and will be held under the theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future”. The three sub themes are opportunity, mobility, and sustainability, based on which the master floor plan will differ. The previous Government expected Dubai Expo 2020 to contribute towards the achievement of Sri Lanka’s Vision 2025 by supporting the growth of tourism, stimulating the development of innovative businesses, and enhancing the country’s international reputation as an ideal location to do business. The next expo after Dubai is scheduled to take place in Osaka, Japan in 2025.