MUSCAT: Former British prime minister Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie, visited the Sultanate’s pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai recently accompanied by her delegation.

The supervisor, Nawaf Al Balushi and the deputy supervisor, Nasser Al Amoori, received the guests. Nawaf Al Balushi explained to the visitors the sections of the pavilion that represent the social and cultural development witnessed by the Sultanate.

Cherie Blair was impressed by the efforts made at the pavilion to represent Oman worldwide.

The pavilion also received the Governor of Aden, Dr Adnan Omar Al Jafari. Al Jafari was welcomed by Nasser Al Amoori who took him on a tour around the pavilion. Al Amoori gave the visitor insights on the most important feature of Oman in terms of landscapes, mountains, deserts, wadis and cultural diversity under the leadership of His Majesty Sultan Qaboos bin Said.

It is noteworthy to mention that the number of visitors to Oman’s pavilion till Thursday, July 29 had touched 1,713,650 while the total number of visitors to the expo touched 34,098,800.

In a Chinese channel called CNTV, a special report was dedicated to the Sultanate’s celebration of Renaissance Day at the Shanghai Expo in China. The report described the Sultanate’s pavilion as a ship that takes visitors to a historical and authentic journey.



From the expo

Although Shanghai Expo 2010 is receiving significant success, however, Guangdong Province attempts to bid to host a World Expo in 2025 to become the second place in China after Shanghai to hold the world fair.

Expo 2025 will be the earliest date for a Guangdong bid because the International Exposition Bureau (BIE) says a country should wait at least 15 years before hosting another expo.

Romania Pavilion

The design concept of the Romania Pavilion evolves around the colour and environmental implications of ‘green’, inspired by the apple, the most popular fruit in Romania and representing a “green city,” healthy life and the concept of sustainable development.

‘Greenopolis’, the name of the pavilion, is a term with universal meaning, metamorphosed in a fruit, the apple, which means health, knowledge, freshness, temptation and eternity.

The ‘apple pavilion’ is divided into two parts: the main body from which is detached a slice, the secondary body. The architectural design has multifunctional spaces and is disposed on five floors. Cultural events, showrooms of art, design and multimedia events.