Shanghai's upcoming hosting of the World Expo will be an "unforgettable experience" for local residents, leaving a lasting legacy of international trade that will be of benefit to everyone, according to a former Canadian politician.

Grace McCarthy, the British Columbia tourism minister who was largely responsible for bringing the World Expo to Vancouver in 1986, said the hosting of the fair put the Canadian city on the global map, ultimately leading to its successful hosting of the Winter Olympics earlier this year.

Now 82 and retired from politics, McCarthy, who heads the Vancouver-based Child Foundation charity which helps children with liver and intestinal disorders, said the spinoffs of the Shanghai expo would be vast, ranging from economic development for the city and the country as a whole, to improving the lives of local residents.

"Shanghai undoubtedly has strong local government with committees working night and day to make connections around the world. Those connections will pay off because they wouldn't even show up if they didn't plan to have a plant (they wanted built) or wanted to go and help rebuild that area that the expo site is on. There will be international trade which will be a benefit for everybody," she said.

"The opportunity now for Shanghai is the world gets to know the city, not as a land, but as the land of opportunity. Not as individuals who are hardworking, but individuals who want people to come and stay and live and contribute to the country. That's the essence of a world expo. People will see a very different Shanghai than what they have envisioned. It's a pure learning experience."

With a theme of transport and communication, the Vancouver expo previewed a host of technologies that are now commonplace.

Demonstrations of the internet were on display nearly a decade before it became commonplace, while inventor Arthur C. Clarke presided over a satellite dinner. With diners sitting in Canada, the famed author of 2001: A Space Odyssey chatted with those assembled via satellite from his Sri Lankan base.

There was also a demonstration line of Vancouver's new transportation system with an overhead "Skytrain" moving passengers through the expo site. McCarthy said the Canadian-made system had drawn great interest from Singapore which was looking to improve its own rapid transit at the time. However, they ended up going with Japanese technology.