On a visit to Dunedin last week, New Zealand's ambassador to Indonesia and World Expo Commissioner-general Phillip Gibson said with 70 million people expected to attend the expo during the six months it would be open, it would be an excellent opportunity to showcase businesses, education and tourism.
Otago's historic connection with China, Shanghai's involvement in Dunedin's Chinese garden and the fact that Shanghai and Dunedin were sister cities meant there was an opportunity for Otago to showcase itself, Mr Gibson said.
The Shanghai expo, which opens on May 1, 2010, would be the largest ever.
The previous expo, in Aichi, Japan, in 2005, attracted 22 million people, with 25,000 people a day visiting the New Zealand pavilion.
Mr Gibson said for Shanghai they were planning for 40,000 a day.
He said the pavilion would be 2000sq m, four times that of Aichi.
As with the Osaka expo in 1970, Shanghai would showcase China as a global economic super power.
"They have just hosted the Olympics, and now Shanghai, their biggest commercial and economic centre, is hosting the World Expo," Mr Gibson said.
The expo site covered 5.2km of central Shanghai.
Because New Zealand was one of the first 12 nations to commit, Mr Gibson said it had secured a favourable site, near China's pavilion, just inside the main entrance.
The theme was Better Cities, Better Life.
The New Zealand pavilion would have a veranda frontage with a large greenstone rock.
There would be kapa haka performances and Maori carvers.
Inside, high-tech scenic images would appear along a 110m walkway.
The photographs were of New Zealand beaches, suburbs and cities, countryside, and mountains.
"Essentially, it is about creating an experience," Mr Gibson said.
The visitors then come out on to a roof garden.
This will feature the vegetation of different New Zealand regions, from the mountains to the coast.
Mr Gibson said a VIP lounge had been built for businesses or groups to use for meetings, displays or presentations.
"What we are doing with the pavilion is a national statement, but the VIP area is an opportunity for regions or businesses to have tailored, specific opportunities, maybe tourism, education, business for Otago people, or sister-city dimension."
He met Otago businessmen and the Dunedin City Council last week to inform them of the opportunities, and said the region was already out of the starting blocks, given the symbolism and connection through the sister-city link and the Chinese garden.
"It's very significant, Dunedin's profile in Shanghai, and it's a real profile, as evident by Shanghai's investment in the Chinese garden," he said.
The Government has invested $30 million in the expo and private funding of another $2 million has been promised.
Mr Gibson urged people to take advantage of the investment and opportunity.
"The Government is providing a venue, an occasion, and overall promotion. The message is, use it," he said.
