Consul General Camp’s remarks

Director General Hong Hao, Director Zhou Jun, Ladies & Gentlemen and distinguished guests, 

Today is an exciting day.  In January we marked the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the United States and the People’s Republic of China.  Now, by committing to participate in China’s first-ever World’s Fair, we are opening a gateway to the next 30 years, with more engagement, more exchanges, more visits, and more dialogue. 

The story of our efforts to take part in the Shanghai Expo goes back to March 2008 when the State Department signed a letter of intent with the USA Pavilion non-profit group “Shanghai Expo 2010, Inc”.  At that time the group took on the task of designing, managing and raising money for the U.S. National pavilion.  We all knew this would be a challenge, but the past year brought developments such as the global financial crisis that made this task even more difficult.  Today we can finally say that we are rising to the challenge.  We are participating. 

It is my pleasure now to introduce Jose Villarreal, the U.S. Commissioner General to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo.  Mr. Villarreal has a distinguished background in law, business and non-governmental sectors and serves on a number of private and non-profit boards.  As Commissioner General, he will head the United States participation at the Expo and will be responsible for oversight of the U.S. Pavilion; he is also the official U.S. government representative to the Government of China on issues relating to the Shanghai Expo.

As Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton noted when she introduced Mr. Villarreal in Washington last week, “The theme of Better City, Better Life, gives us a perfect opportunity to highlight U.S. innovation, particularly in environmental initiatives, and to share ideas with countries from around the world on ways to create better cities and communities for all our people.”  I look forward to 2010 and to a US Pavilion that will bring the best of America to China and to this dynamic city.