Dubai has confirmed the delay of Expo 2020 after a two-thirds majority of the Bureau International des Expositions' (BIE) member states voted in favour of postponing the event.

The World Expo will now run from 1 October 2021 to 31 March 2022.

With a BIE General Assembly impossible to hold in person due to Covid-19 restrictions, member states voted remotely on the BIE Executive Committee’s recommendation for a delay as proposed by the UAE government in April.

While the vote remains open until 29 May, the two-thirds threshold was surpassed within a week of voting opening on 24 April.

The postponement will be formally approved when the vote officially closes later this month.

The BIE, the intergovernmental organisation supervising World Expos, agreed to propose Expo 2020 Dubai's postponement on 21 April. 

The name, 'Expo 2020 Dubai', is to be retained for the event.

Expo 2020 Dubai's postponement is expected to contribute to the revival of local real estate activity.

Murray Strang, head of the Dubai office at real estate consultancy Savills, said last month: "The Expo positivity should coincide with a strong rebound in transactional activity once the pandemic is contained and Dubai should generally be better prepared and equipped to host an optimal event from October 2021.”