SHANGHAI: After much speculation over whether the US will make it to the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the world’s largest economy finally confirmed its participation on Friday.

Concluding the uncertainty caused by the lack of government funding for its involvement in the mega event that starts next May, the country inked the deal with Chinese organizers in Shanghai.

“We will have a pavilion built on time and on budget,” said Jose H Villarreal, US Commissioner General for the 2010 Expo who was appointed by US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last week. “I don’t think we are behind the schedule, and I think we will expeditiously get the structure built and open it on time for the grand opening (of the expo).”

Barred by law from using government funds to build its pavilion, the United States has since 1991 relied on corporate funding and private donors to fund its expo activities, which has led to a lower presence at recent World’s Fairs. At the 2005 World Expo in Aichi, Japan, the country’s costs were largely underwritten by carmaker Toyota.

For the Shanghai edition, a couple of former Warner Brothers executives – Nick Winslow and Ellen Eliasoph, who subsequently forged a non-profit partnership – were charged with raising the $61 million needed for the US Pavilion, which will be located opposite the China pavilion in the expo’s central promenade.

Villarreal said at a brief press conference after Friday’s signing ceremony that about half of the fund has been raised and the country is confident of securing the rest.

“We are completely certain that we will be able to raise the fund necessary to build a pavilion that we are proud of,” he said.

Asked if the country has a back-up plan, Villarreal said: “We really don’t need a back-up plan. We will build a pavilion. Our pavilion will begin to be erected as soon as all of the steps needed be taken.”

Shanghai, China’s largest city and financial center, has latched onto the expo as its chance to establish its global profile as a dazzling metropolis in the same way last year’s Beijing Olympics turned the world’s attention to the nation’s capital.

So far the event, which is expected to attract 70 million visitors, has confirmed a record participation by around 240 countries and international organizations.

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The theme of the US pavilion will be Celebration 2030, in which a guided tour led by an American Chinese will allow the visitors to experience the space of future and personally feel the US cities in year 2030.

“We believe the 70 million visitors will find themselves indulged in the authentic American cultural scenario, and let their imagination flying in the beautiful urban life,” said Hong Hao, director-general of Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

Beatrice Camp, the US Consul General in Shanghai, said the confirmation is especially meaningful when the two nations celebrated the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations this year.

“By committing to participate in China’s first-ever World’s Fair,” she said, “we are opening a gateway to the next 30 years, with more engagement, more exchanges, more visits and more dialogue.”