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2008-09-17 RIGA, Sep 16, BNS <http://terminal.bns.lv/> - Latvian ministers on Tuesday endorsed in principle Latvia's participation in the international exhibition World Expo 2010 in the Chinese city of Shanghai, said Foreign Minister Maris Riekstins. The decision though was made behind closed doors, as the issue was debated during the closed part of the Cabinet meeting. The government
has yet to decide on a funding
for Latvia's participation in the exhibition. Cost estimates suggest that participation in World Expo 2010 will cost Latvia
more than 3.4 million The Latvian Institute, the Latvian Investment and Development Agency will be in charge of organizing Latvia's participation in the exhibition in partnership with the Riga local authority and the association of Latvia's cities. A workgroup was
set up to assess the necessity
for Latvia to take part in
the exhibition. The experts indicated
that World Expo could be
regarded as the world's most
important international exhibition providing countries a great opportunity to raise their profile. "Latvia should seize the opportunity to promote itself, especially considering that Latvia did
not take part in World
Expo 2005 in Japan. It is important
for Latvia to take part in
this international forum to give a signal to the world community about the level
of its development, possibilities and perspectives," the panel said
in a report. A decision not
to participate would create a negative publicity for Latvia, the experts
said. "Such a negative decision would inevitably create additional concern on the
international scene about Latvia's economic and political stability and development prospects," the report said. The experts
also noted that nearly all
countries of the world, including
Latvia's neighbors Lithuania and Estonia, are set to take part
in the forum. The creation
of a single Baltic stand, however, would be impossible, since Lithuania and Estonia have
opted for separate representation. Latvia received an invitation to take part in World Expo 2010 already in 2006. The event is scheduled to take place in Shanghai from May 1, 2010 to October 31, 2010. |
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Copyright 2004 - Latvian Embassy in China :: ITBN |
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