Czech Republic will take over its pavilion at EXPO 2010 first

Prague - The Czech Republic will be the first among approximately 180 countries participating in next year's World Expo in Shanghai, China, to take over its exhibition pavilion. This was stated by Pavel Stehlík, the General Secretary for Expo 2010, in today's program Impulsy Václava Moravce. He mentioned that he will fly to Shanghai on Friday to take over the pavilion on April 28. The Czech Republic will thus have enough time for quality preparation of the exhibition.
    "We focused on getting a finished hall for adjustments as soon as possible. We did everything to be at the top, not to be first, but to minimize the risks that await us," Stehlík said.
    Thus, the Czech Republic took over the pavilion so that it would have already completed trial operation by May 1. Unlike the previous expo in Japan, where the pavilion opened just before the exhibition began.
    Czech participation in the World Expo will cost approximately half a billion crowns. Cost-saving measures have cut funds for this year by ten million crowns, and cuts cannot be ruled out for next year either. Money remains one of the risks of Czech participation. "When the project was being prepared, the exchange rate between the Czech crown and the Chinese yuan was 2.70, it is now three crowns. What is being procured in Shanghai now is already more expensive, and it is likely to get even more expensive," Stehlík explained.
    Another risk relates to the transportation of exhibits. Many of them will be produced in the Czech Republic, and there is a risk that they may be damaged during transport. Several cubic meters of material represent a robot that will demonstrate the issues between man and energy. "The robot will be movable; it will react to the movements of visitors, and any damage could pose a danger to the exhibition," Stehlík said.
    He stated that they have been proceeding rationally from the beginning. For one square meter, the budget is 40 percent less than at the last Expo. The pavilion will have about 2000 square meters in Shanghai compared to Japan, where it had about 700 square meters.
    According to Stehlík, the reason for the larger space is that the Czech Republic wants to utilize all opportunities for economic promotion of the country. The rules allow 20 percent of the exhibition area for commercial activities – there will be a restaurant, a shop, and a meeting room where Czech companies will have space for negotiations, and regions will also have space for their presentations.
    The Czech pavilion at Expo 2010 with the exhibition Urbanized Landscape will take the form of a white cube, with a ground plan of the Old Town Square created on its wall. The structure is to be composed of small units representing individual Prague city blocks. Upon closer inspection, the viewer will realize that the individual points are hockey pucks. This is a reminder of the glory of Czech hockey.