Pavel Stehlik (left), Czech Republic's commissioner general for the Expo, shakes hands with Hong Hao, director of the Bureau of Shanghai World Expo Coordination.

scene of the signing ceremony

Pavel Stehlik (left) answers questions from the media.

The Czech Republic will put up an exhibition on the "Fruit of Civilization" during World Expo 2010, the country's officials said as it signed a participation contract with organizers today.

The country will lease a 2,000 square meter pavilion in the Expo site, said Pavel Stehlik, Czech Republic's commissioner general for the Expo.

A multimedia exhibition in the pavilion will focus on solving the problems of traffic peaks during holiday seasons.

He said that many Czech people live in the city, but also have houses in the countryside. Thus, it causes problems when people rush off to weekend homes.

The Czech government put a lot emphasis on the Shanghai Expo project. The Czech Pavilion in 2010 is the double the size of its pavilion at Aichi Expo, he added.

The Czech Pavilion is expected to receive about 3,500 visitors per day during the six-month Expo period.

Stehlik said Prague, the capital, is also applying for Urban Best Practices Area.

Prague suffered a severe flood in 2002 and most of its historical buildings were damaged. The government created a kind of removable dam -- to protect the city from floods when needed -- that does not affect the city's scenery, Stehlik said.

The country would like to share this practice with costal cities, he said.

The Czech Republic is the 12th participant to sign a participation contract.