By Song Ying and Wang Chaowen

    NAIROBI, July 31 (Xinhua) -- A UN high-ranking official has said the 2010 Shanghai World Expo will have ever lasting impacts on China and the world as a whole.

    "I am sure that the Shanghai World Expo will have ever-lasting impacts. There are two things, the World Expo and the Olympics Games, that wherever they are held, they will have permanent impacts, not only for Shanghai, for China, but also for humanity," UN Under-Secretary-General Anna Kajumulo Tibaijuka told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview.

    Tibaijuka recalled her personal experience and memory of the expos in history." I remember the World Expo in the 1970s in Japan which help the Asian country open to the outside world. At that time I was a school girl, but I followed the proceedings of the World Expo closely and thought it was very interesting because it was highly publicized," said the official.

    "Right now we have publicized the Shanghai World Expo even much more, in which the UN is also trying to offer help," she added.

    "The World Expo will help China open to the rest of the world, including the cities around Shanghai, like Zhang Jiagang and Shaoxing of which the outlook has changed a lot. Those cities can also gain a chance for exposure."

    Tibaijuka is also the executive director of UN Human Settlement Program (UN-HABITAT) which is entrusted by the UN to coordinate the participation of the world group into the Shanghai World Expo.

    The high-ranking UN official explained, "The decision of choosing UN-HABITAT to coordinate was made by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and the whole UN unanimously several years ago because they recognized we are the coordinators and experts in urban development and because the theme of the Shanghai World Expois 'Better City, Better Life'. The coordination work is going on very well."

    She expressed the hope that the UN Pavilion will be completed by this November or December to showcase the work of the UN, past, present and the future, around the challenges of bringing about better cities and better life and how to improve cities and towns.     

    "The Shanghai World Expo comes at a very opportune time in the history of humanity because it comes at the time when the climate change is a reality, at the time when we have a financial crisis which was fundamentally caused by a collapse in housing finance in some advanced country, at a time when we face energy challenge. All these features will be elaborated very much in the UN Pavilion," Tibaijuka told Xinhua.

    Bearing the theme of "One Earth, One UN", the UN Pavilion will try to emphasize that every city can be better and the necessity of unity. "For that sake we have to be united. We are living in an era that more and more people are moving to cities and towns. By 2050, more than two-thirds of the world population will be in cities. Even in Africa, the majority of Africans will be in cities by 2030," Tibaijuka stressed.

    "If we want 'Better City Better Life', we need one earth and one UN. That means we have to be united," the official highlighted the significance of the theme of the pavilion.

    In addition, she revealed that besides exhibition, one highlight of the UN Pavilion will be a debate forum. "A debate forum or a public speaking corner will be established to show UN policies, share ideas and bring extinguished personalities and dignities to speak. We think, that will be a very interesting feature."

    She extended gratitude to the budget support from the Chinese side, saying that they will mobilize additional resources for the construction of the pavilion, which, she has confidence in , will go on very well thanks to the efficiency of the Chinese workers.

    The Shanghai World Expo 2010 is an international exposition that will take place from May 1 to October 31 next year and cover a surface of more than 5 square km in Shanghai, under its main theme of "Better City, Better Life".

    The expo is expected to attract 70 million people from the public and private sectors, civil society, international organizations and others, according to UN estimates.

    The UN Pavilion of the expo will be situated in a prime location within the international organizations area of the expo park and cover a total area of 3,000 square meters.

Special Report:  Expo 2010 Shanghai China