Shanghai Daily news
No one who visited the New Zealand Pavilion at the World Expo Aichi in 2005 could have failed to have noticed the Maori performance. This highlighted harmony in cultural development as well as fitting well with the theme of Aichi: "Nature's Wisdom."
The unique and eye-catching pavilion certainly stood out among other countries' high-tech manifestations and attracted more than four million visitors over the course of the six-month event.
New Zealand, the first country in Oceania to confirm its participation in the 2010 Expo, has vowed to cause further surprises this time around.
"The New Zealand Pavilion at the Aichi Expo was very popular," said the country's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Phil Goff last November during his visit with the organizers in Shanghai.
"Our Aichi success has given us confidence that we can do better at the Shanghai World Expo which will see the largest presence New Zealand has ever had at a World Expo," Goff said.
Ten months later, when Shanghai Daily's reporter visited the government body in New Zealand in charge of the 2010 Expo project, preparations were fully underway.
"The country has chosen five consortiums as candidate contractors for the country's national pavilion at the World Expo 2010 Shanghai," said Michael Pattison, Shanghai Expo's project manager with New Zealand Trade and Enterprise.
The five consortiums have been asked to present their proposals for the design of the pavilion by the end of this month. The winning proposal will be announced to the public in October, according to Pattison.
"The New Zealand pavilion will offer visitors a unique Kiwi experience, like a short but pleasant trip to our country," said Pattison.
"We will select one proposal that best fits the theme of the Expo and also best showcases New Zealand.
"All of the five consortiums have experience in areas such as architectural design, construction, engineering and overseas project management."
Last December, New Zealand put out a tender on its Government Electronic Tenders Service and invited companies to become the Shanghai Expo's contractor.
More than 90 companies read the tender information and 18 of them joined the competition.
Pattison declined to reveal the names of the five consortiums which were chosen as the finalists, saying that he has to respect the classified business information.
New Zealand confirmed its participation in the 2010 Expo last April and secured a 2,000-square-meter land plot for its pavilion site.
"It is conceivable that many New Zealanders will choose to go to Shanghai between May and October in 2010 for the World Expo. It's a very good opportunity for Kiwi companies to do business," said Pattison, who suggested Shanghai should make efforts to make it simple and easy for Expo visitors.
For example, it would be great if New Zealanders can book their entrance tickets and accommodation in advance, possibly through the official Website of the Expo.
Also, Pattison said its team will beef up their efforts to promote the Expo in New Zealand.
"With the release of the design of the New Zealand pavilion, as well as many others like the Chinese pavilion, we will have many things to say to raise people's awareness of the big event," said Pattison.
The New Zealand government invested US$8.5 million in the 2005 Expo project, a newsletter on the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise's Website quoted the Commissioner-General at Aichi Expo, Phillip Gibson as saying. "But the conservative estimate of the value of the media coverage we achieved is probably double that figure."
The organizers of Aichi Expo forecasted 15 million visitors, but actually 22 million attended the event. The New Zealand Pavilion - one of the most popular - received more than four million visitors.
Paul Pothville, deputy consul general of New Zealand in Shanghai, said that the Kiwi designers are very passionate about the project.
"Some of them will visit Shanghai to get inspiration," said Pothville, when touring the recent Expo exhibition in Shanghai. That 36-day-long exhibition welcomed more than 130,000 visitors.