"We wait for you in Barcelona MWC". With these words the representatives of GSMA wanted to conclude their intervention to explain the reasons for the "difficult decision" to cancel the celebration in Barcelona the celebration of the MWC. They have stressed that it is "impossible" to celebrate the event "in these circumstances" and that these are causes of "force majeure" since "concerns about the outbreak of coronavirus" make it impossible for many companies to travel.

"This decision has not been taken lightly, a very fluid situation that has been changing literally hour by hour," said the organizers who noted that they thought about reducing Congress. "All of our buyers said they would not come to a smaller event either . The vast majority of attendees had decided not to," they explained.

GSMA CEO John Hoffman added that the suspension is for reasons of "force majeure" and for security reasons and stressed that they have to review the contracts with each company that they cannot disclose due to confidentiality issues. In this sense, they assured that they do not have the approximate figure of the cost of the suspension of the MWC but that for now the important thing is to maintain "the reputation of the congress".

This idea is followed by the administrations that highlighted the need to close ranks to work together so that the 2021 edition is "the best of the MWC" held in Barcelona and "the first of many more", as indicated by the mayor of the city Ada Colau In addition, he acknowledged that "we are facing a complicated day" and an "unexpected situation" so he lamented the "strong impact" on the city. However, he indicated that all administrations will jointly listen to the affected sectors to try to mitigate "the repercussions of this cancellation at the local level" .

Both Colau and the representative of the Generalitat, Jordi Puigneró, and the Government delegate in Catalonia, Teresa Cunillera, stressed that everything was prepared in Barcelona for the celebration of the event and that there is no situation of "sanitary alarm" or in Barcelona, Catalonia or Spain, although there is the "global" by the outbreak of coronavirus in China. Therefore, they stressed that citizens need the "maximum transparency" to explain this situation and that is why administrations must work together.

From Fira de Barcelona, ​​the Chairman of the Board of Directors Pau Relat said that they have worked with the organizers and the administration to have prepared the celebration of the MWC and that even "exceptional measures" were adopted by the health alert. He also recalled that they draw "positive conclusions" from the cancellation as the consensus of organizations and administrations to make a "reference event in the coming years."

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