The world economy is slowly recovering from the global economic downturn but the comeback has been shadowed by the debt crisis in Europe.

The Shanghai World Expo, set to open Saturday, is expected to build confidence in restoring the world economy.

The world needs to look ahead with courage despite grim prospects, says Geir Haarde, Iceland's former prime minister.

Confidence in the world economy stands as reflected in the words of the world's leaders.

Yasuo Fukuda, the former Japanese prime minister, said the Shanghai World Expo is opening at a time when the extravaganza will provide an opportunity for countries to recover from the economic nightmare.

Faith in the global economy also reflects in the actions of countries around the world.

As one of the first countries to confirm participation in the Shanghai Expo, Chile decided to build a pavilion of its own instead of renting one as originally planned. That action came even though Chile was later struck by a strong earthquake.

Countries around the world insist on attending the Shanghai Expo because their attendance will boost the world economy, just as the 1933 Chicago World Expo did when the United States was mired in the worst economic crisis in its history.

The US was still immersed in the Great Depression at that time with numerous banks closed and the jobless rate soaring to as high as 25 percent of the country's workers.

But also that year, the Chicago World Expo, named "A Century of Progress," officially opened.

Then US President Franklin D. Roosevelt said the expo was timely "not only because it marks a century of accomplishment, but it comes at a time when the world needs nothing so much as a better mutual understanding of the peoples of the earth."