JEDDAH, 3 July 2005 — Ryuhei Kuno, a five-year-old Japanese boy has become the one-millionth visitor to the Saudi Pavilion at Japan’s 2005 World Exposition.
“I was surprised and happy at the same time,” Ryuhei said. “I didn’t know anything about Saudi Arabia, but after being named the one-millionth visitor, my parents showed it to me on a map.”
“Because today is also his birthday, I believe it will be a very memorable day for him,” Yukihiro Kuno, Ryuhei’s father, said when the announcement was made.
Ryuhei, accompanied by his father, his mother and seven-year-old brother Taiki were feted at the pavilion.
Saudi Pavilion Manager Khalid S. Halawani, Deputy Manager Ahmed Al-Duhaim, and members of the pavilion’s Saudi Aramco team welcomed the guests.
The Kuno family received VIP treatment at a reception, including posing for photos with the pavilion staff, a guided tour, and presentation to Ryuhei of a signed certificate documenting that he was the millionth visitor. He also was presented with a gift briefcase containing a CD, DVD, books, magazines about the Kingdom and Saudi Aramco and Saudi dates.
On June 19-20, the Saudi Pavilion staff conducted a raffle to commemorate the one-millionth visitor. Metsue Niisaki, a 60-year-old woman won the raffle. The prize was a pair of tickets to spend a week in the picturesque city of Abha in Saudi Arabia’s scenic and mountainous southwest. The gift was courtesy of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, the Royal Embassy of Saudi Arabia in Tokyo, Saudi Arabian Airlines and Saudi Basic Industries Corp. (SABIC).
By June 26, a total of 9,217,361 people had visited the expo, officials said, averaging 95,000 a day.
Halawani projected that the Saudi Pavilion would exceed its initial goal of 1.5 million visitors by the expo’s end. About 12,000 visitors a day are dropping by the Saudi Pavilion, and the overall total was 1.1 million by June 26.
The Saudi Pavilion staff has been surveying visitors. Managers say the survey shows that, before visiting the pavilion, most people thought of Saudi Arabia as a rich oil-producing country and that the lives of Saudis were based on camels, the desert and extremism. But, after experiencing the pavilion, visitors said they were surprised to learn that the Kingdom is a modern, civilized country with a unique Islamic culture and history, and that it is a strong proponent of regional and global peace.
Visitors said they respected that the Saudi government was spending its oil revenues on public development, such as free education and health care for its citizens.
