The GSM Association (GSMA) has recently sent email notifications to some exhibitors, saying that they will respond as early as March 31, Tencent News cited MWC 2020 exhibitors as saying.
Due to the outbreak of the new coronavirus pneumonia, many companies have withdrawn from the MWC 2020. Therefore, the organizer GSMA officially announced the cancellation of MWC 2020 Barcelona last week.
GSMA did not specify how it planned to deal with the participation fees when it announced its cancellation, which caused many exhibitors to worry.
GSMA said in the email that the current situation of GSMA is unprecedented and it cannot be insured. Therefore, it is unavoidable to spend some time assessing the full impact and agreeing on a solution.
"This is our primary focus at this time- we anticipate being able to get back to you at the latest by 31st March 2020," it said.
Here is the full statement:
The situation in which the GSMA now finds itself is unprecedented and uninsurable. As such, it will inevitably take some time to assess the full impact and agree a route forwards.
As a not organisation and the convener of an entire industry and related ecosystem, the financial of these circumstances are hugely significant for the GSMA and we are grateful for your understanding and patience at this time.
Please bear with us as we work through these circumstances and formulate a proposal which we hope enables us to maintain our long mutually beneficial partnership. This is our primary focus at this time- we anticipate being able to get back to you at the latest by 31st March 2020.
MWC is the top event in the the industry. The exhibition fee varies from booth area to more than 100,000 yuan and up to 100 million yuan. Last year, MWC brought about 470 million euros to Barcelona.
Affected by this, the number of Chinese participants has shrunk significantly. According to an earlier report, Chinese exhibitor agency said the number of Chinese exhibitors has fallen by more than 80% compared with previous years.
The report said Chinese exhibitor agency had sent a letter to the GSMA, hoping to refund the booth fee or postpone it to the next MWC. They also want the GSMA to assist in the cancellation of related flight and hotel bookings.
"We hope that GSMA can consider the demands of Chinese companies and international companies from the perspective of exhibiting companies," the report said citing a source from a Chinese exhibitor agency.
"Due to the impact of the current epidemic situation, we just hope that GSMA will give a statement. It does not matter if the money is not refunded, extending it to the next session is also acceptable," the source said.
Analysts point out that both GSMA and exhibitors have signed contracts, which also have insurance compensation clauses.
However, the specific compensation depends on whether it constitutes meeting the conditions for the insurance to take effect, such as being forced to cancel in the event of an epidemic crisis being declared locally, otherwise GSMA can only compensate itself.
Of course, the best solution is to postpone to the next issue, which is what most manufacturers want.
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