Businesses poised to benefit from Shanghai Expo

SHANGHAI: If the Beijing Olympics serves as a perfect marketing platform for corporate sponsors, the Shanghai World Expo can be an unparalleled opportunity for savvy companies keen to present their brand to a wider range of potential customers over a longer term.

The 184-day event, to be launched on May 1, 2010, will attract an estimated 70 million visitors from home and abroad, three times the number of visitors to the Aichi Expo held in Japan in 2005. International organizations from more than 220 nations and regions have confirmed their entries, compared with the record 172 at the 2000 event in Hanover, Germany.

"The Shanghai Expo provides a great opportunity for its corporate sponsors to expand its international influence in the run-up to one of the world's biggest events," says Vice-Mayor of Shanghai Yang Xiong.