As a result of the continuing uncertainty around the containment and management of the COVID pandemic, never better exemplified than by what has recently happened in India and other countries with third/fourth waves and or small outbreaks, Honey Mamabolo the MD of the South African Mint, Marie Lemay the CEO of the Royal Canadian Mint and myself have considered options for hosting MDC, and finally arrived at a position.
I preface this announcement with the following – In Australia where, until recently there has been limited community transition cases, the Government has said there will be no international travel until mid-2022 and even then the sense is it will only be to select countries that are demonstrating comparable containment and control measures.
Mrs Mambolo and Ms Lemay agree that normalised international travel in 2022 is almost impossible and so collectively we have recommended that MDC be postponed until 2023. This is incredibly disappointing for both the hosts and of course for many of our members who were so looking forward to meeting in person to discuss how to respond to the challenging world we now operate in.
After considering the possibility of conducting the event in May 2023 but believing we may need an additional safety margin as well as to provide much greater certainty, the Royal Canadian Mint, after seeking advice from their travel and tourism industry, has offered to host the event in October 2023. This is strongly endorsed by Mrs Mamabolo and myself and has been broadly supported by the MDC Working Group, which serves as the MDC executive committee.
It has also been proposed that we conduct another MDC in November 2024 (13 or 14 months later), which will be hosted by the South African Mint.
In the interim period, ie. next two years, and subject to the support of the MDC membership we will:
- conduct a virtual MDC Conference in May 2022
- continue to conduct quarterly webinars
- produce the monthly Mint Industry Communique
- conduct a virtual Internal Affairs meeting in late November 2021
- encourage in person meetings (if/when possible) by providing regular updates on travel and event opportunities
- conduct research – topic to be confirmed by the end of July 2021
- strongly advocate for cash as well as for both collecting and numismatics and bullion investment.
The article was first published in the Mint Industry Communiqué May 2021.
Here you can find more information on the previously planned MDC 2020 in South Africa.
For further details on the MDC go to the Mint Industry website.
