Estonia joins in at World Expo

TALLINN - While opening the Estonia pavilion in the Shanghai World Exposition Expo on April 30, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said that participation in the event provides Estonia with an opportunity to introduce itself in the areas of business, culture, tourism, education, research, and many others to China and the entire world. This year’s Expo, which is the biggest-ever world’s fair, is taking place from May 1 to Oct. 31 in Shanghai in the People’s Republic of China.

Foreign Minister Paet said that taking part in the Expo is a good opportunity for Estonia to show itself to the world and to invite people to travel, study, and create business ties in Estonia. “Being part of the World Exposition gives our businesses and institutions a good opportunity to establish ties in rapidly-developing Asia,” said the foreign minister. During the Expo, various seminars and theme days will be held in the Estonian pavilion.
“We would like to use this opportunity to introduce Estonia as best we can, as we would like to intensify ties with China and other nations and businesses working in Asia,” said Paet. “Estonia is planning many cultural events in Shanghai in co-operation with its partners in China. For example, we would like to introduce a collection of Estonian fairy tales translated from Estonian into Chinese,” he added.

The foreign minister also stated that Estonia has been thoroughly preparing for the event during the past year as it is quite an important event for the country.
The theme of the Shanghai World Exposition is “Better City, Better Life,” with which it hopes to find solutions to the issues and challenges that come with urbanization. According to Paet, the aim of Estonia’s exhibit in the Exposition is to try to involve people in the campaign to save cities. Paet said that the pavilion offers people the opportunity to join the discussion on problems related to global urbanization.

The World Exposition includes close to 200 nations and 45 international organizations. The Estonian pavilion (about 1,000 sq. meters) is next to the pavilions of its neighboring countries Finland, Sweden, Denmark and Norway.
According to the organizers of the exhibition, the World Expo 2010 will be a visual masterpiece. Not only the architecture of the different pavilions will be eye-catching, but the lighting, LED and projecting solutions will awe the expected 70 million spectators.

Participants will display urban civilization to its full extent and exchange their experiences over urban development. The creation of an eco-friendly society and maintenance of sustainable development will be emphasized during the expositions and various events. The organizers are predicting a record number of participants.