Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (left) and Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng
scene of the signing ceremony
Taipei will have two exhibitions - its wireless city and its recycling promotions - showcased in Shanghai for its contribution to the 2010 World Expo.
Yesterday visiting Taipei Mayor, Hau Lung-bin, and his local counterpart Han Zheng, exchanged ideas after the Taipei Mayor signed the participation contract for the exhibition in Urban Best Practices Area.
Taipei is the only city that has had both of its exhibition proposals selected, according to Zhou Hanmin, deputy director general of the Bureau of Shanghai Expo Coordination.
"I feel honored that Taipei didn't miss out on such a grand and exciting international event," Hau said.
"I want Taipei to not only show itself to the world during the expo, but also to forge an interactive relationship with Shanghai so that the two cities can enjoy a win-win with exchange and cooperation."
Urban Best Practices Area, a highlight of Shanghai Expo, aims to provide a platform for world cities to share good examples in coping with problems during urbanization.
Two cases of Taipei are among the 55 cases selected out of 106 candidates by the International Selection Committee of UBPA.
For its wireless city exhibition, Taipei will showcase how it built up a wireless network that lets people attend to day-to-day tasks via the Internet. "Our slogan is 'use the net, not the street' so that we can save public space to ease pressures such as traffic," Hau said.
Taipei is also aiming at a complete recycling of resources and "zero burial of garbage" by 2010.
Shanghai Mayor Han Zheng said environmental protection, together with traffic and housing issues, are problems that challenge big cities such as Taipei and Shanghai in the modern world.
"We should share our experiences and join hands to face the challenges together," Han told his Taipei counterpart.
Planning, construction and operation of the two Taipei exhibitions will be funded by Taiwanese multi-millionaire Kuo Tai-ming's Hon Hai Education Foundation, Hau revealed.
Also, Hong Kong's case featuring multifunctional smart cards and Macau's proposal on the renovation of its culture relics the Tak Seng On pawnshop also won their places in the UBPA exhibition.
Besides the UBPA exhibition, Shanghai Expo also reserved places for Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan in the China Pavilion section where they will have about 1,000-quare-meter plot each.
Hong Kong and Macau have already signed the participation contracts confirming their official attendance in the exhibition in China Pavilion this month.
The 1,000-square-meter Hong Kong Pavilion will explore the theme "Hong Kong - the Infinite City" to display Hong Kong's achievements as well as the relationship with the Chinese mainland and the rest of the world.
Macau will build a 1,100-square-meter pavilion to showcase its history, culture, traditions and achievements.
The China Pavilion section will include a national pavilion, called "the Crown of the East," a joint pavilion for provinces and cities, and separate Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan pavilions. Mainland provinces and cities will each have 600 square meters of display space.
scene of the signing ceremony
