By Wang Zhenghua (China Daily)
Updated: 2007-12-26 07:06

SHANGHAI: A large part of the operating budget for the Shanghai World Expo 2010 will go toward addressing security issues, the organizers of the event said.

Yang Xiong, vice-mayor of Shanghai, told the Shanghai Expo Legal Forum yesterday that public security issues are a central concern as preparations for the Expo pick up speed.

"(Security) work is definitely the most important, because a secure environment will ultimately be the guarantee that the Expo's goals will be reached," Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, secretary-general of the International Exhibitions Bureau, wrote to the forum.

Event organizers attending the forum yesterday discussed potential challenges in curbing natural disasters, fires, human stampedes and vandalism as well as the need to guarantee the safety of information, VIPs, food and facilities.

The forum, the first of its kind to discuss the security issues associated with the 2010 event, brought together officials and legal professionals to exchange ideas and come up with preventive measures.

Zhou Hanmin, deputy director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination, said operations will account for a third of the Expo's cost, which has been calculated at 10.8 billion yuan.

He said a considerable share of the operational costs would involve security initiatives.

By yesterday, 186 nations, regions and international organizations had confirmed that they would participate in the 184-day event, to be kicked off on May 1, 2010. An estimated 70 million people from home and abroad are expected to attend, three times the number of visitors to the Aichi Expo held in Japan in 2005.

Shanghai's Expo garden covers an enclosed area of 3.28 sq km, doubling the Aichi event.

To guarantee that visitors and participants are safe as well as reduce liabilities for the organizers, the coordinating bureau is working with several municipal departments to draft special regulations and emergency plans.

The city has also come up with detailed plans to address threats such as terrorism and food safety.