Delegates have begun to file inside the OECD centre ahead of the presentations that will determine the winner of Expo 2020.
As the clock ticks, the UAE team gets ready to troop into the hall to make the first of four presentations to clinch the right to host Expo 2020.
Each nation will get a specific time of 20 minutes to make their case. If they cross that time, they will be cut off midway through their arguments.
The tension is slowly building. The Secretary General of the BIE advised the media on the voting pattern, saying: “If you have a list of 100 nations who have promised you their votes then my advice is to take out 30 per cent because only the rest of the delegates may actually vote depending on what they have promised.”
The winner of the Expo 2020 will be announced by Senior Vice President of the BIE Steen Chrisgtensen instead of President Ferdinand Nagy.
Some serious wheeling and dealing is still going on with other countries making last minute public relations moves to try and secure crucial votes for their respective countries.
The assembly has begun and the secretary general of the BIE has begun his address welcoming all members and deliberating on the specific points of Expo 2017 to be hosted in Astana, Kazakhstan.
Even the secretary General of the BIE is admitting to feeling tense over the days proceedings and stated that he just wants “things to get over and done with. We will be happy for the winner and we promise to work with them and we will feel bad for the countries that will fail to make it.”
