The New Zealand Herald

Line in the sand

Silver lining to Expo delay in Dubai

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The postponeme­nt of Expo 2020 has scuppered a $50 million-plus push by New Zealand to promote itself to the world this year but the programme’s head says the delay could work in this country’s favour.

The world’s biggest business gathering was expected to attract 25 million visitors to the massive Expo 2020 Dubai site for six months from October but participat­ing nations have voted to delay opening for a year because of the coronaviru­s pandemic.

New Zealand had budgeted $54m for participat­ing and the delay will add as yet unfinalise­d costs to the programme. But commission­er general to the Expo, Clayton Kimpton, says the postponeme­nt could come at just the right time for this country — and others.

“There’s going to be the world coming together with a sense of solidarity and optimism about the post-Covid world and how are we going to rebuild the global economy,” said Kimpton, who is based in Dubai.

“Everybody is going to be coming to this thing with the same agenda. We’ll be reminding the world who we are, what our unique propositio­n is, that we’re open for trade and tourism and education and investment.”

While there is no certainty the pandemic will have passed, an effective vaccine developed and shell-shocked potential visitors willing to travel, Kimpton says New Zealand’s revised planning is on the assumption there will be demand that the event go ahead successful­ly. The country has no choice but to keep on with the project, with the pavilion’s shell in advanced stage, sponsors still on board and a cultural programme all but locked in.

“Is there a possibilit­y that

Covid will still be impacting the world, this time next year? Possibly. If that is the case, then we need to revisit what we do at that time — we’ve just got to deal with the current situation,” he says.

“Otherwise, we would think we’d end up in a state of inertia waiting to see if everything is fixed. We can’t speculate on that but can on the opportunit­ies (Expo) represents. And that’s what we’re responding to.”

Osaka expo in 1970 gave the country the opportunit­y to promote meat exports to a wider range of countries as Britain was getting closer to Europe and an event at Shanghai in 2010 came at a good time as the world was emerging from the global financial crisis and New Zealand was bedding in its free trade pact with China.

All our major trading partners were participat­ing at Dubai and host country the United Arab Emirates is New Zealand’s 10th biggest trading partner, taking exports of $3.9 billion a year and they are growing.

“There’s an opportunit­y to be here together with them and to tell our story, but also the bilateral opportunit­y we have got all of those major trading partners in the one place.”

He says Foreign Affairs Minister Winston Peters and Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker had been very clear on the need for the postponeme­nt but the grounds for the original decision to participat­e — outlined in 2016 — were still valid.

“If anything the reasons for participat­ing and Expo have been emphasised to a much greater degree.”

A unique advantage?

Kimpton doesn’t want to tempt fate, but New Zealand’s progress so far in squashing the curve showed it could further enhance its reputation in the region and around the world.

Last March, an image of Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern hugging a woman following the Christchur­ch mosque attacks was projected on the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai. A positive outcome fighting Covid-19 could elicit something similar.

“If you’re seen to be a healthy country that would seem to be a huge advantage on the world stage.”

New Zealand’s branding centred not only on being a clean country but also on 100 per cent food security.

“We’ve really got this positionin­g in the market that if you’re buying New Zealand product, it’s top shelf, it’s safe, it’s tasty and you know all the good things that come from that food,” he says.

Choreograp­her Parris Goebel, under New Zealand’s theme of Care for People and Place, had developed an entertainm­ent programme celebratin­g New Zealand’s creativity, diversity and youth over the six-month course of Expo 2020 Dubai. The programme is now on ice but Kimpton says Goebel was still on board and the message may be further refined, depending on how New Zealand emerges from the pandemic.

”You don’t want to crow too early, but I would say next year if we’re able to benchmark ourselves with other countries we would want to make sure that creative brief is refreshed, to reflect what New Zealand’s then position is,” he says.

”I don’t think it’s going to change substantiv­ely, but we want to make sure that we’re not telling a story that was yesterday but making sure we tell the story of tomorrow.” There were a large number of New Zealand companies based in Dubai, not necessaril­y for the local market, but it was also the hub from which they’re able to service a large portion of the world, including India.

Trade was a big aspect of the Expo push but tourism would take another greater degree of prominence and attracting overseas investment would also be a key plank of the Expo presence.

The bill keeps climbing

Work is going ahead on the Expo site about 40 minutes out of the centre of Dubai on a patch of sand the equivalent area to 440 football pitches.

Kimpton says New Zealand would finish the building and then mothball it and protect it against heat of more than 40C.

This would add to the bill.

“For a building to survive two summers here you’ve got to put in a little bit of air conditioni­ng and cleaning.”

Local staff would be reassigned to different roles to retain their services.

“There’s been a cost around that to ensure that they’ve got the right isolation rooms in their accommodat­ion. We’ve created an environmen­t where the New Zealand constructi­on team is in a bubble to ensure they don’t come into contact with other people.”

He says some contracts would need to be renegotiat­ed and officials were still calculatin­g the final bill to take to the Government.

Kimpton says air links would be essential for the success of the event and while many airlines are grounded right now, there were signs of a recovery.

Emirates had been commission­ed by the New Zealand Government to run some freight flights to Dubai this month. The airline’s flight catering arm was still on board to provide food during the Expo.

There is also no need to change the stationery. The event will still be known as Expo 2020 Dubai, which will be a saving on branding costs.

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 ??  ?? Clayton Kimpton is in charge of developing the New Zealand Pavilion for the Dubai Expo, above.
Clayton Kimpton is in charge of developing the New Zealand Pavilion for the Dubai Expo, above.

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