A gathering of chambers of commerce from around the world that was due to take place in Dubai next February has been postponed until November 2021 to coincide with the new dates for Expo 2020.
The 12th World Chambers Congress, organised jointly by Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the International Chamber of Commerce's (ICC) World Chambers Federation, will now take place from November 23-25 next year. The event is expected to attract representatives from 12,000 chambers of commerce from 100 countries.
The postponement is due to a number of factors including the business challenges arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and the rescheduling of Expo 2020, which will now begin in October 2021, said Hamad Buamim, the president and chief executive of Dubai Chamber and current chairman of the World Chambers Federation.
He said by hosting the biennial congress, at the same time as World Expo, it would provide a platform to showcase and learn about innovative products and services, as well as networking and collaboration opportunities.
"The theme of WCC 2021 — Generation Next: Chambers 4.0 — is now more relevant than ever before, as chambers around the world realise the need to adapt to a fast-changing business landscape and leverage Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies to better serve their members," Mr Buamim said.
Many of the world's biggest business events, including the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the annual MIPIM property fair and the Hannover Messe trade fair, have either been postponed or cancelled this year as a result of the pandemic.
The ICC was founded in 1919 and is the world's largest business organisation, whose chambers represent 45 million companies.
