Sweden has broken ground on its Dubai Expo 2020 country pavilion being set up under the theme 'Co-creation for Innovation' with a major focus on sustainability.

A tree-planting ceremony was conducted by Swedish Minister for Foreign Trade, Anna Hallberg, at the project site on Wednesday, thus officially marking the beginning of the construction of the Swedish pavilion, 'The Forest'.

Najeeb Mohammed Al-Ali, executive director of Expo 2020 Dubai Bureau, too joined the Swedish minister at the ceremony. The Swedish pavilion will be located in Expo 2020's Sustainability District.

"Building the pavilion itself in a renewable material is completely in line with both Swedish priorities and the strong climate focus on the world exhibition," remarked Hallberg.

Tree planting resonates with the ambition to build the pavilion entirely in wood to minimise its impact on the climate, she added.

The Swedish minister addressed the country’s strong focus on combining innovative solutions with sustainable practices as being the main reason for building the Swedish pavilion in the Sustainability District of the Expo 2020 site.

She also underscored the importance of global co-creation – an essential part of Sweden’s theme – Co-creation for Innovation.

Henrik Landerholm, ambassador of Sweden to the UAE, said, "I am very proud to witness the ground-breaking for the construction of Sweden's pavilion at the Expo 2020 in Dubai – in just one year the eyes of the world will be focused on the UAE and this will be an opportunity for the country to showcase state-of-the-art technology and innovative and sustainable solutions."

"The image of Sweden is very positive in the UAE, generally associated with nature and beautiful landscapes as well as the strong recycling culture. We want to show that Sweden is also an innovative and prominent hi-tech country with world-leading companies and that there are major business and collaboration opportunities," he added.

A special film produced by the Swedish Expo organisation on the country's sustainable and large-scale forest cultivation was shown to the guests at the tree planting ceremony.

Whilst viewing the film, the guests were transported to the vast plains of the region Dalarna where the trees for the Swedish pavilion were picked up last spring. For each tree harvested for the pavilion, three new ones will be planted, said senior officials.

"Our pavilion will showcase the best that Sweden has to offer within research and innovation. Building the pavilion itself in a renewable material is completely in line with both Swedish priorities and the strong climate focus of the world exhibition," he added.-TradeArabia News Service