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The UAE Pavilion opened its doors to the public at 10.00am this morning on a day that the residents of Yeosu are unlikely to forget.
The sun shone, temperatures were in the near perfect low twenties, the bay’s calm waters glistened. Buses, trains and planes disgorged tens of thousands of eager Korean families to an EXPO that has resoundingly defied the doubters who claimed that nobody would travel all the way to this southern formerly sleepy seaside resort.
It is true to say that Yeosu itself will never be the same again and this morning’s traffic jams and dense queues of surprisingly well-disposed people, young and old, were there so that the organisers could see whether their dream would work. Barring the usual glitches that were being ironed out as they happened, the verdict was a resounding ’yes’. EXPO 2012 is clearly going to be different, entertaining, and engaging and the countries that have chosen to participate had better be ready to handle large crowds of visitors.
The UAE Pavilion proved to be one of the most popular venues. Large queues quickly gathered outside the innovative facade of the building, complete with its graphic ’time-line’ illustrating key stages in the nation’s development. Video screens showing school children from the UAE displaying their fluency in Korean welcomed visitors.
This International EXPO in South Korea, under the aegis of the Bureau International Expositions (BIE), which is headquartered in Paris and responsible for managing the organisation of World Expos, has chosen ’Living Ocean and Coast’ as its theme and the UAE Pavilion, designed and managed by the National Media Council (NMC), has closely followed that lead.
Korean visitors gave a spontaneous applause to the ’The Turtle’, main film of the UAE’s Pavilion. Unaware that they were attending a ’world premiere’ they were neverthless moved by the message of the film and inspired by the strong performance of an impressive young Emirati actor, Ahmed Al Daheri, who previously featured in the UAE Pavilion at EXPO 2010 in Shanghai.
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Abu Dhabi International Airport - 41°F
