U.S. Signs Shanghai 2010 Expo Participation Contract

U.S. Commissioner General Jose H. Villarreal and Director General of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination Hong Hao shake hands after signing the Shanghai 2010 Expo Participation Contract in Shanghai, China, July 10, 2009. 
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Commissioner General Villarreal’s Remarks

I am honored to join you all here today.  Director General Hong Hao, Consul General Camp, I thank you for your kind words of introduction. 

It was with great excitement that I accepted the position of Commissioner General for the U.S. Pavilion at the Shanghai 2010 Expo.  When my friend, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, asked me to take on this leadership role, I was honored to accept this opportunity to represent my country and the people of the United States.  The highest levels of the United States Government are committed to U.S. participation at the Shanghai Expo, and I am personally committed to having a national pavilion that will showcase the best of America and will make our Chinese hosts and visitors as well as the American people proud.....(Full text) 
   

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....(Full text)