Five interested parties want to buy the Czech pavilion and its exhibition

Prague - The number of interested parties in purchasing the Czech pavilion at the World Expo 2010 in China has grown to five. Three Chinese regions, one cultural institution from Shanghai, and another company interested in artistic exhibits want to buy the exhibition as a whole. Jiří Potužník, the spokesperson for the Czech participation in the World Expo, said this today.
    The new interested party is the multimillion city of Wuxi, a popular tourist destination near Shanghai. It has joined the city of Huzhou and the farm of Czechoslovak-Chinese Friendship in Hebei Province, which is a huge conglomerate with 180,000 employees and an oil refinery.
    "In addition to the regions, one significant cultural institution from Shanghai is also interested in the exhibition, about whose identity the office of the chief commissioner does not want to speak in detail due to recently initiated negotiations, and another entity is interested in individual artistic exhibits," Potužník stated.
    "The interested parties want to preserve the Czech exhibition as a whole and are willing to relocate it at their own expense, build a new facility for it, reinstall it, and operate it. We are negotiating with those who already have defined land for that purpose in their land use plan," said Pavel Stehlík, the chief commissioner of the Czech participation in the exhibition.
    He added that he mainly wants to assess where the exhibition "Fruits of Civilization" will best fulfill its original purpose, namely to serve the marketing of the Czech Republic in China. "And besides that, the price at which we will sell the exhibition certainly plays a role. We repeat this to all interested parties who appeal for a sale for one crown and argue with the large investments they will take on and that they will promote the Czech Republic at their own expense," the commissioner pointed out.
    Selected works from the exhibition could potentially be acquired by a local auction house, if the Czech state is interested.
    The Czech pavilion has already been visited by six million visitors. It has thus matched the attendance of the legendary Czech pavilion at the Brussels exhibition in 1958. The World Expo will end in less than two months. Before then, it should be clear who will acquire the Czech exhibition if the Czech state negotiates the sale of the pavilion. The government allocated about half a billion korunas for the Czech participation in the cultural Olympics of nations. Czechs can now become acquainted with the pavilion remotely at an exhibition currently being held at the Czech Centre in Prague.