Abdulrahman Al-Shaikh Commissioner General of the Saudi Arabia Pavilion

"At the very beginning, I knew it would be a successful pavilion, but I did not expect it to be that popular. We are proud to see so many visitors come to our pavilion.

We know Chinese people are eager to know about different countries, and it is a good platform for us to show our culture. In the eyes of most Chinese, Saudi Arabia is a country with large oil reserves and a large desert. However by presenting ourselves at the Expo 2010, we have shown that our country is a state with a great heritage and history. We also have shown that we are a modern country befitting a modern age. All those things together give visitors a new impression of our country. Saudi Arabia can now be well recognized by the Chinese people.

We knew that this Expo would be very unique. We received an invitation from the Expo organizers and we knew they planned to make it the biggest-ever World Expo in history, in terms of its size and the amount of people who would visit. China and Saudi Arabia have very good ties, and we have recognized China as a very important country for us."