Paris: The race to host the World Expo 2020 has narrowed down to four following the disqualification of Thai city of Ayutthaya by the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE).
"The Thai city of Ayutthaya has failed to meet the bid criteria and therefore is no longer in the race," a source told Gulf News here in Paris, where the rest of the official candidate cities are making their second round presentation. Ayutthaya will not be presenting its progress report on Wednesday.
BIE's General Assembly has approved Dubai's bid, clearing a hurdle in its bid for Expo 2020. The BIE is hosting a two-day general assembly where the candidate cities are presenting their progress report.
Among the rest, Dubai will face competition from Sau Paulo of Brazil, Izmir of Turkey and Russian city of Yekaterinburg.
With growing political crisis in Turkey, Dubai is now clearly the front-runner for winning the bid which will be decided in November.
Thai government blamed
Meanwhile, Bangkok post reported that the president of the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau accused the government of ignoring and failing to support Thailand’s bid to host the World Expo in 2020 after the country was removed from the candidate list.
Akapol Sorasuchart was speaking as the Bureau of International Expositions, which comprises 163 member countries, started its two-day general assembly in Paris on Tuesday.
