Govt Receives Report on Country’s Participation at the 2020 Dubai Expo

The Solomon Islands Expo 2020 Dubai Pavilion report was officially handed over to the national government yesterday at the Heritage Park Hotel in Honiara.

The report is an overview of Solomon Islands participation at the World Expo 2020 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Speaking at the ceremony, Commissioner General for Solomon Islands Pavilion His Excellency Moses Kouni Mose said, the expo has provided a platform to better promote Solomon Islands in terms of its culture, services and products.

“When the expo opened, a lot of people came through the pavilion and many asked, where is Solomon Islands? Is it in Africa or is it in the Caribbean? It goes to show that Solomon Islands is not well known in other parts of the world.

“So, the platform we had in Dubai has enabled Solomon Islands to promote a unique brand, Solomon Is., as well as the unique products, services, and our culture to the people of the United Arab Emirates, to the countries in the gulf region and the people who visited the Dubai expo 2020,” he said.

His Excellency Mose also reiterated the need to further promote Solomon Islands in the various sectors.

“We have a lot to do to promote Solomon Islands overseas. Not only through Tourism Solomons but also through many of us who work in the government in whatever responsibility or capacity to promote Solomon Islands outside of Solomon Islands.”

Receiving the report on behalf of the government, Minister for Commerce, Industry, Labor, and Immigration Hon. Frederick Kologeto assures that the government will continue to support such undertakings.

He also acknowledged the Pavilion team for their tireless efforts during the expo.

“The government will continue to support undertakings as such, and the government is pleased that the money budget for this was used for its intended purpose and that we have achieved what we intended to achieve in Dubai.

Thank you to the team who are based in Dubai and to the team who went over for the expo and the government officials who were behind this very important undertaking,” Minister Kologeto said.

Meanwhile, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism Mr Bunyan Sivoro highlighted that Solomon Islands has participated well in the Dubai expo.

“If I can make a comparison, this is the best that we have performed so far and I am grateful that I am here to say that.  Despite covid 19 affecting our preparations, I think we did well from promoting our trade products, our cultural artifacts to Tourism promotion and opportunities.

“As a result of the Expo, we will be hosting a potential investor who will be coming next month to have a look at some of the sites that we’ve promoted during the expo,” Mr Sivoro said.

The Expo 2020 Dubai was hosted from the 1st of October 2021 to the 31st of March 2022.

For Solomon Islands, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Ministry of Commerce Industry, Labour and Immigration and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism were joint partners in the country’s preparations and participation at the Expo.

The two main trade products displayed and for sale in the Solomon Islands Pavilion were the Kokonut Pacific Solomon Islands (KPSI) oil products and the Soltuna products.

Delivering the report presentation, Solomon Islands Pavilion Director at the Expo, Dennis Marita said there was a demand for products on sale because the majority of the products were out of stock before the Expo ended.

He said, KPSI products in fact ran out within three months of the Expo.

The final report also showed that sales from the Expo, a total of SBD209,094.15 was remitted to the Solomon Islands Government through the Central Bank on 8  August 2022.

By Eliza Kukutu

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