A look back at the UAE’s first foreign pavilion at Expo ’70 in Japan

Rashid Abdullah Al Nuaimi was the Emirates' first representative to an international exhibition, and visited Osaka, Japan, where he worked out of a small tent selling coffee for $1 a cup.

Emirati novelist and former UAE foreign minister Rashid Abdullah Al Nuaimi. Al Ittihad

ABU DHABI // Forty four years ago, a single man from Abu Dhabi was selling coffee for a dollar a cup to keep his pavilion at Expo Japan ’70 afloat.

“I set up a tent and had a small model to present and started selling different types of coffee in plastic cups to visitors to be able to afford being at the exhibition,” said Rashid Abdullah Al Nuaimi.

The UAE has come a long way since then. It will host Dubai 2020; its pavilion at Milan Expo in 2015 will feature a desert city with towering sand dunes and shaded pathways; its maritime-themed pavilion at Yeosu Expo 2012 won a silver medal; and its dune-shaped pavilion won the popular vote in Shanghai in 2010.

Mr Al Nuaimi was sent to Osaka, Japan, by the Founding President, the late Sheikh Zayed, to represent Abu Dhabi for the first time at the international exposition.

“During the beginning of Sheikh Zayed’s rule, relationships developed between Abu Dhabi and Japan in one field only and that was oil,” he said. “Japanese oil companies used to visit Sheikh Zayed a lot at the time and began to hear more of our culture and the people from him. They wanted to give something to Abu Dhabi so they introduced the idea to the late president that he take part in Expo ’70.

“Also, they thought that such a participation would help foster a stronger relationship with the emirate and they wanted to support it.”

Abu Dhabi’s participation came with many challenges, Mr Al Nuaimi said.

“At the time there were difficulties because only countries were allowed to participate and Abu Dhabi was still not an independent country and under the British government. There was mutual respect between the British government and Sheikh Zayed, so after some convincing they agreed to support Abu Dhabi’s participation.”

The second challenge was what to present at the exhibition that would be a symbol of the UAE’s development.

“We had nothing at the time,” Mr Al Nuaimi said. “In 1967 we had very limited resources and this was an international exhibition with major countries taking part who had a lot to show and participate with.

“They had developments, history, sciences – we barely had rudimentary primary schools. Also, we had no money. So with help from some Japanese and British companies, we collected enough money to create something to present.

“We kept thinking of something that is an example of our culture and development but again we only had forts and, at the time, we had just came out with a new concept, the barajils (wind towers).”

Ultimately, they settled on Al Ain’s Al Jahili fort.

“We had 60,000 Bahraini dinars for our participation at Expo and it was all spent on building a replica of the fort,” he said.

Mr Al Nuaimi and a team of foreign engineers spent two years building the replica.

“We finished all our money, but I took some coffee pots with me to Japan and started selling coffee for a dollar each to make some money. People started to come and buy our ‘Arabic coffee’. Gradually, delegations started to come and were encouraged to support us.”

Mr Al Nuaimi said Dubai Expo 2020 is far from what he experienced.

“It is now different to the Expo the UAE used to participate in through the Ministry of Media.

“Expo used to be an event to promote cultures and humanitarian issues. It has now developed to promote businesses and since Dubai is a major business hub, people are now looking at Expo as more of an economic advantage and from a business perspective, rather than a cultural and humanitarian one, which is what Expo was originally.”

But, he said, during Expo 2020 “there will be cultural and humanitarian initiatives that I think are being prepared for from now. Expo is an opportunity for us to present our culture, our arts and history.”

He said Sheikh Zayed might never have imagined that Dubai would one day host an Expo.

“Sheikh Zayed’s dreams and ambitions were, to be honest, even bigger than Expo and he has achieved far more than Expo.

“Winning the bid was because of the efforts of the people and leadership of the UAE. Today it is everyone’s dream to be an Emirati. Back then we pleaded with anyone to come to the UAE. A country that has this much respect worldwide deserves even more than Expo.”