Mr. Tom Kitt, T.D., Minister for Trade, this evening (Tuesday, 2nd February 1999) opened the EXPO 2000 Exhibition at the offices of ENFO in St. Andrew Street, Dublin. The exhibition will run from the 3rd February to the 24th February and is open to the public.

The exhibition will display the entries from the six finalists in the architectural and interpretative fit-out design competition for the Irish pavilion at the World Exposition, EXPO 2000, which will run June-October, 2000 in Hannover, Germany. Ireland has secured a site on the prestigious European Boulevard and expects to attract a significant percentage of the estimated 40 million visitors who will attend the first World Exposition of the twenty-first century.

Speaking about EXPO 2000 Minister Kitt said "I believe that our participation at EXPO affords us a wonderful opportunity to raise the profile of a dynamic, self-confident Ireland, comfortable with its achievements and willing to confront the challenges of the new millennium."

Congratulating the German organisers on their choice of theme, the Minister expressed the hope that "the peoples of the world would gather at Hannover to offer their solutions to the problems presented by an ever expanding population attempting to survive on increasingly dwindling natural resources."