Messe Frankfurt has announced that two of the company’s Mobility & Logistics fairs in Asia have been postponed in the wake of the recent Novel Coronavirus outbreak. The two events include Automechanika Ho Chi Minh City (AMHCMC) and the Auto Maintenance and Repair Expo (AMR), which were originally scheduled from 5 to 7 March 2020 in Ho Chi Minh City and 15 to 18 March 2020 in Beijing respectively.

On 30 January 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) announced that it had listed the recent Novel Coronavirus outbreak as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The assessment signifies that the spread of the virus has become a public health risk, thus, the WHO calls for greater international collaboration on disease control.

Following this, Vietnam’s Prime Minister, Nguyen Xuan Phuc, urged the public to suspend non-essential crowd gatherings. While in Beijing, the municipality had already declared the highest level of public health emergency on 24 January 2020. The city started to carry out a series of disease prevention and control measures, and advised citizens to avoid going to crowded places or taking part in public activities.

With these measures in place in the fairs’ two host cities, Messe Frankfurt has decided to reschedule AMHCMC and AMR. Updated show dates will be announced in the near future.

Mr Stephan Buurma, Member of the Board of Management of Messe Frankfurt Group, commented: “As a responsible player in the global trade fair industry, Messe Frankfurt is committed to delivering a safe environment for business exchange across all of our trade shows. Accordingly, the health of fairgoers, contractors and staff is our top priority, and we actively support local governments’ actions to prevent the spread of the virus.”