Helsinki Region at Expo 2010 Shanghai

The Helsinki Region is participating in Finland’s largest international promotion effort to date at Expo 2010 Shanghai China, which celebrated its grand opening on May 1st. Helsinki joins Nokia and Kone with a noteworthy presence in Finland’s Expo pavilion named “Kirnu”.

Helsinki presents itself under five themes at the Expo: (1) tourism and conventions in the Greater Helsinki Region, (2) Education, (3) Design & Culture, (4) Innovations and (5) Cleantech & Environment. Helsinki’s presence is coordinated by Greater Helsinki Promotion, the region’s joint company for international marketing and economic development.

Each theme will be highlighted with a dedicated event at Kirnu, aimed at corroborating old liaisons and creating new long-term relationships. The catalyst for each themed event is contacts created by key Chinese players in Helsinki, when they were hosted by their Finnish counterparts prior to the Expo. These visits were organized under the Invitation to Helsinki programme. The Chinese guests have recorded their experiences in Helsinki, which can be found on the Invitation to Helsinki pages, http://www.invitationtohelsinki.fi.    

The overriding theme of Expo 2010 Shanghai is Better City, Better Life. The theme offers a good opportunity for the Helsinki Region to display its strengths and solutions for high-quality urban life. The theme coincides with the Region’s ambitions as World Design Capital 2012, when it seeks to find solutions from design for building better cities.

Shanghai is an opportune springboard for the Helsinki Region into the Chinese markets as the city already has the largest concentration of Finnish corporate and public-sector representatives outside Europe.

Expo 2010 Shanghai
Finland at Expo 2010 Shanghai