Singapore looking for great rate of return

Editor's Note: Singapore has participated in every World Expo since 1986, from Vancouver to Brisbane, Seville, Hanover and most recently Aichi in Japan.

The Shanghai World Expo will see the largest-scale participation by Singapore yet, reflecting not only the growing stature of the event but also the growing ties between the host and its island-state neighbor. Ken Low, assistant chief executive of Singapore's tourism board, filled in some of the blanks during a meeting with China Daily reporter Wang Zhenghua last weekend as workers broke ground on the Singapore pavilion.

Q: There are about 40 independent pavilions being built by foreign countries for the Shanghai Expo. What makes yours special?

A: Of course we started with the architecture. We went to many pains to ensure that we have an interesting building this time, because there was no opportunity to build anything very special at the previous World Expo in Japan. Then we told ourselves that visitors' experiences on all three floors must be very special. Each floor has its own feel and each will appeal to different kinds of people. If you like music, visual interaction or nature, then our pavilion will feel special.

Q: How can Singapore benefit from joining the Shanghai Expo?

A: We see the Shanghai Expo as a very important and large-scale marketing platform, a chance for us to communicate with the world. Firstly, we want to communicate with China, and secondly, with the rest of the world. We want to let people know what Singapore is all about today, in terms of the people, our beliefs, our commitment and sustainability. We think this platform will allow us to do that in a very large-scale way.

Q: How has the economic downturn affected your preparations so far?

A: Our budget is very tight, but we are exploring various ways of ensuring we get the budget we originally committed to. We haven't yet had to cut the budget for the Shanghai Expo, and we remain committed to whatever we started with. Our team is working tirelessly to ensure that, if we put one dollar down, we get much more than our money's worth in return.

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Q: Are you struggling to attract sponsors?

A: Yes, but this is natural. A lot of companies have cut back on their sponsorship money so it's definitely a problem.

But bigger companies will see this as a good long-term investment and many companies have "rainy day" budgets they can use to keep investing. The downturn doesn't mean that you necessarily have to pull out all of your investment. We see this project as a long-term investment, and this is how we try to explain its benefits to companies.