Shanghai 2010 is a vital platform to showcase the very best of New Zealand both to China and to the global community, reinforce its positive existing relationship with China, and create new business opportunities. New Zealand will invest approximately NZD 30 million at Shanghai 2010, one of its largest Expo efforts ever.
New Zealand will present itself as an innovative, nvironmentally conscious, multi-cultural, Asia Pacific nation, and also as a compelling tourism destination.
It has plenty to bring to the theme of Shanghai 2010 of Better City, Better Life. Although New Zealand has a small population of almost 4.3 million, it is highly urbanized with some 86 percent of people living in cities or towns.
New Zealand cities also consistently score very highly in international ratings for quality of life. For example, in the 2009 Quality of Living Survey undertaken by global consultancy group Mercer, two New Zealand cities – Auckland and Wellington – were ranked in the top 12 cities globally, and first and third respectively among cities in Asia Pacific.
New Zealand’s Interpretation of Expo Theme
New Zealand’s unique interpretation of the Shanghai 2010 theme is “Cities of Nature: Living between Land and Sky”. This is based on a strong belief that achieving the right balance with nature and the environment is a vital part of successful modern city living.
This theme statement owes much to the indigenous Maori culture of New Zealand. According to the Maori story of creation, the Sky Father and the Earth Mother once lay so close together that no light could come into the world. Their children, the gods, plotted to push them apart, but among them only Tane, the god of the forests (and of people) had the strength to do so – creating the world of light in which we flourish.
Architecturally and in its exhibitions, the New Zealand Pavilion will re-tell a modern extension of that story, in which the forces of life (the forests and people) are not seen as separate, but as different aspects of the same creative spirit.
New Zealand cities are, by Chinese standards, small and not densely populated.
Where we live, nature is a constant presence. The Pavilion will show how that presence benefits New Zealanders – economically, in terms of inspiration and the encouragement of innovation in technology, art and culture, and in lifestyle (refreshment, recreation, exercise, good food and wine, etc).
the Pavilion will be visually distinctive, reflecting New Zealand’s natural beauty and will present New Zealanders as welcoming, creative, innovative and technically sophisticated people who enjoy an enviable lifestyle. It will be located on a 2000 square metres prime site at the Expo, close to the China Pavilion and alongside the enormous Theme Pavilion. It will be adjacent to the main walkway and will be seen by virtually every visitor to the Expo.
Visitors to the New Zealand Pavilion will be greeted by a team of young New Zealanders, each fluent in Chinese, well-educated, lively and with strong communication skills. There will also be resident “Kapa Haka” (indigenous New Zealand Maori dance) groups performing daily.
The pavilion will comprise four visitor experience areas: Welcome Space, Cities of Nature experience, Garden and wild places walk and VIP experience. The front entrance to the pavilion is beneath a welcoming veranda. Inside the
wedge, visitors will walk along a winding ramp which gradually rises up, taking them through a “day in the life” of a composite New Zealand city in a natural setting. Visitors will then walk back down towards the veranda area through a garden planted with New Zealand trees and flowers. There will also be an elegant mezzanine hospitality area located on the east side of the pavilion.
New Zealand businesses will be able to use the Pavilion’s VIP facilities to entertain customers and prospects in a uniquely New Zealand environment which will convey positive messages about our country and its people. The Pavilion will also provide a platform to promote tourism, education and sister city activities.
Government agency New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE) has overall responsibility for New Zealand’s participation at World Expo Shanghai. The Shanghai expo is, however, a “whole of Government” project, in which other stakeholders including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Ministry of Economic Development, the Ministry for Culture and Heritage, and Tourism New Zealand will also play a role. New Zealand Commissioner-General for the Expo is career diplomat, Ambassador Phillip Gibson. He is one of New Zealand’s most senior diplomats and was New Zealand Commissioner-General for World Expo Aichi 2005 in Japan.
The New Zealand Pavilion is being designed and constructed by an internationally experienced team of New Zealand architects, engineers and designers, many of whom were also involved in creating the award winning New Zealand pavilion at the 2005 World Expo at Aichi, Japan.
Previous New Zealand Expo Participation
New Zealand took part in expos at London in 1851, Melbourne in 1880, San Francisco in 1915 and New York in 1939. More recently, New Zealand was at Osaka, Japan (1970), Brisbane (1988), Seville (1992), Taejon, Korea (1993) and Aichi, Japan (2005). At the most recent Aichi Expo, the New Zealand Pavilion succeeded in attracting many more visitors than had been anticipated and in delivering high levels of visitor satisfaction. The Pavilion also won a prestigious Nature’s Wisdom medal for its interpretation of the Expo’s central theme.
New Zealand Relationship with China
New Zealand and China enjoy a longstanding and successful relationship in both business and cultural terms. This was reinforced last year when New Zealand became the first developed country and first member of the 30-nation
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) grouping to negotiate a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) with China. The signing of the historic China-New Zealand FTA took place in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People on 7 April 2008, witnessed by then New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.
China is New Zealand’s third largest trading partner and fourth largest export market. Two-way trade in the year ended August 2009 totalled approximately NZD 10 billion and trade is expected to increase significantly under the FTA.