Lt Governor of  Puducherry Dr Iqbal Singh  led a delegation comprising of Minister of Tourism Mr. Malladi Krishna Rao and senior officials from Puducherry to Shanghai and Suzhou from June 11-15, 2010.  On June 12th, Lt Governor attended the Urban Renewal and Culture Promotion Forum in Suzhou, organized jointly by the City of Suzhou, World Expo Shanghai and the UNESCO to highlight the need to protect heritage as an Urban Development strategy. The Forum was presided over by the Minister of Culture of Peoples Republic of China. Among others, it was attended by the Deputy-Director General of UNESCO and the Mayor of Shanghai.

On June 14th, Pondicherry Pavilion at the UBPA (Urban Best Practices Area) section of the Shanghai World Expo was formally inaugurated by the Lt. Governor of Puducherry Dr. Iqbal Singh and the Tourism Minister Mr. Rao. UBPA Director Mr. Sun Liansheng was also present at the event.  The invitation to Pondicherry stems from their successful partnership with INTACH to develop an integrated program for urban environmental management and heritage conservation.