$32m for World Expo, but what for?

By PATRICK CREWDSON in Shanghai - The Dominion Post

Britain has an illuminated porcupine. Pakistan has a replica fort. Spain has wicker baskets. And New Zealand has a verdant wedge.

In the middle of China's biggest city, foreign countries are racing to erect multimillion-dollar pavilions for the World Expo 2010 Shanghai.

It has been called Shanghai's Olympics, and even with half a year to go, the expo is saturating the city. Action hero Jackie Chan and NBA basketballer Yao Ming have lent their star power to TV spots and the official mascot, the cartoonish sea elf Haibao, is ubiquitous.

Though expos can leave an enduring mark – notably in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower was built for the 1889 expo – their purpose can seem wishy-washy. Neither a trade fair nor a political summit, the expo exists to promote the exchange of ideas, enhance international relations, and serve as something of a beauty pageant for countries.

Inevitably, participants will use Shanghai's Expo to promote their national brands in the world's hottest market. New Zealand's pavilion is costing $32 million, nearly four times what we spent at the last expo (in Aichi, Japan in 2005), with the expectation it will tap into the goodwill generated by the free-trade agreement with China to boost our economic fortunes.

Expo organisers expect 90 to 95 per cent of the projected 70 million visitors will be Chinese, with most of the international arrivals coming from Asian neighbours – Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau.

The New Zealand pavilion is hoped to attract 40,000 visitors a day.

"These are the people who will study in New Zealand, or send their kids to study in New Zealand," says Michael Swain, New Zealand's consul-general in Shanghai.

"These are the people who will visit New Zealand. And these are the people who are in the market for the things that New Zealand is selling. So that's going to be a great burst of exposure for New Zealand."

More than 190 countries are participating, though less than a quarter will build their own pavilions. The others will rent or share. Around 50 companies and international organisations, including Coca-Cola, are also involved.

SHANGHAI'S city authorities have seized the chance for a NZ$60 billion construction binge – including dramatically extending the subway system and rejuvenating the historic riverside district of The Bund. Around $5.7b is going on building the expo site and running the fair.

Costing more than the Beijing Olympics, the largely government-funded expo is not a money-making exercise. It could lose as much as $160m, according to the New York Times.

The site straddles the banks of the Huangpu River, occupying 5.28 square kilometres of downtown Shanghai – more than twice the area of Wellington's Karori Sanctuary.

It used to be home to factories, shipyards and their workers, but 272 companies were persuaded to shift their plants to other locations, and 18,000 families were relocated or compensated, echoing Beijing's preparations for the Olympics.

Built on a 2000sqm site that was once a steel mill, New Zealand's pavilion is close to the much larger Australian pavilion and within sight of China's imposing oriental structure.

Visitors will meet a professional kapa haka group performing beneath a courtyard canopy intended to evoke the Maori legend of Tane separating the Sky Father and Earth Mother. Entering the wedge-shaped building past a piece of pounamu, they will walk up a winding ramp, taking what New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Expo project director Mike Pattison calls a "metaphorical journey" through a composite New Zealand city. They will exit on to a rooftop garden.

The pavilion also includes a VIP area, function and meeting rooms, and a gift shop selling New Zealand products and souvenirs.

Staffed by Chinese-speaking Kiwis, the pavilion will be open 13 hours a day, seven days a week, for the six months of the Expo from May 1 to October 31.

While other countries may be aiming to inspire awe, Chris Bicknell of Coffey Projects – who is leading the consortium building the pavilion – says New Zealand's focus has been on making visitors feel welcome.

"It really is aimed at hearts rather than minds. It's not highly text rich, we're not trying to teach them anything," he says of the multimedia experience, which was developed by Wellington's Story Inc. The consortium includes architects Warren and Mahoney, cost consultants Rider Levett Bucknall, landscape designers Dawnfinder, and engineers Beca, with another half dozen companies in supporting roles.

The construction, local liaison and  site supervision is being done by  Chinese companies.

Construction started in May and is scheduled to be completed by the end of November, with the first container of items arriving for the rooftop garden in early December (around a quarter of the plants will be from New Zealand, thanks to some hard-won import certificates) and the internal fit-out to follow by the end of March 2010.

When The Dominion Post visited last month the pavilion's skeleton was taking shape. Workers clambered along the orange structural steel joints as a crane negotiated the next beam into place.

Health and safety standards seem higher than is usual in the city - where it's common to see workers strolling blithely along high beams without harnesses - though they might not meet New Zealand tests.

Mr Bicknell insists that Chinese building regulations are safe as long as they are adhered to - which he says they will be at the New Zealand pavilion.

New Zealand's entry at the 1992 expo in Seville, Spain, blew its budget, negatively colouring the attitude of a generation of politicians and officials, Mr Pattison says. This project is, so far, on schedule and on budget.

The expo's motto is "Better City, Better Life", and New Zealand's theme is "Cities of nature, living between land and sky".

Despite not boasting megacities like Shanghai, New Zealand knows about liveability, says Mr Pattison, citing the view from NZTE's Wellington office in the Majestic Centre as illustration.

"You can look at the beach, the hills, the bush, the harbour and the city spread out there.

"That is a relatively common New Zealand experience."

Kelvin Bezuidenhout, regional marketing manager for Asia for Zespri - which sponsors the pavilion, along with Solid Energy - says the expo offers a valuable opportunity for reaching Chinese consumers.

Zespri is working to integrate itself into the pavilion, with kiwifruit on the menu in the VIP lounge, kiwifruit vines planned for the rooftop garden, and kiwifruit souvenirs in the gift shop.

Mr Pattison encourages other Kiwi companies to use a pavilion visit as a substitute for flying Chinese contacts to New Zealand.

"You can bring them to New Zealand, metaphorically, in Shanghai."

Expo commissioner-general Phillip Gibson says the pavilion will support New Zealand's economic interests in China by showcasing the country as an attractively clean, green and innovative location to visit, study or do business.

Visitor numbers will be the prime measure of the pavilion's performance, but Mr Gibson says organisers will also track media coverage and the online response of China's army of netizens, and seek feedback from Kiwi companies using the facilities.

Trade Minister Tim Groser told The Dominion Post the Government recognises the pavilion's $32m price tag is a "large investment of public money", and there would be a huge focus on China in 2010 to make sure the country gets a return on its investment.

But results cannot be measured by units shifted.

"It's not a hard sell, 'Here, we're flogging off this piece of cheese'," says Mr Groser. "It's more sophisticated than that."

* Patrick Crewdson's travel to Shanghai was supported by the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

AT A GLANCE

The expo will run for 184 days in 2010, from May 1 to October 31.

New Zealand is spending $32 million on its pavilion.

Organisers are forecasting 70 million visitors, with 40,000 expected to visit the New Zealand pavilion each day.

A standard ticket will cost 160 yuan (NZ$32).

Shanghai is spending NZ$60billion on an expo-related makeover.