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BIE Secretary General reviews preparations for Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai

The Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), Dimitri S. Kerkentzes, has carried out a Technical Visit in Japan to review preparations for World Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.

Ending the three-day visit in Tokyo, the BIE Secretary General today met with the newly appointed Minister for Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai, Hanako Jimi. Technical meetings have also been held with key stakeholders involved in the Expo, including the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura, the Commissioner-General of the Expo, Ambassador Koji Haneda, and the Chairperson of the Japan Business Federation (Keidanren), Masakazu Tokura.

The Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), Dimitri S. Kerkentzes (left) and the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Yasutoshi Nishimura (right)

Discussions notably focused on the pace of preparations for the Expo and measures being taken by the Government of Japan to encourage participation in the Expo, to facilitate the construction of pavilions and to foster national and international momentum for the event.

The Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), Dimitri S. Kerkentzes (right), the Minister for Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai, Hanako Jimi (center) and the Secretary General of the Japan Association for Expo 2005, Hiroyuki Ishige (left)

In Osaka on 19 September, the Secretary General met with the Governor of Osaka Prefecture, Hirofumi Yoshimura, the Mayor of Osaka, Hideyuki Yokoyama, and the Secretary General of the Japan Association for Expo 2005, Hiroyuki Ishige.

He also visited the site of Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai on Yumeshima Island, where the contours of the large ring roof, the Japan pavilion and Expo facilities are already visible. On site construction was launched on 13 April 2023 and is set to accelerate in coming months as work begins on major facilities and pavilions.

The Secretary General of the BIE, Dimitri S. Kerkentzes (right), with the Chairman of the Japan Association for Expo 2025, Masakazu Tokura (left)

A total of 153 countries and 8 international organisations have confirmed their participation in Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai. In November 2023, with 500 days until the opening of the Expo, representants of international participants, Expo Organisers and BIE officials will gather for an International Participants Meeting (IPM) aimed at reviewing progress and preparations for the event.

The Secretary General indicated: “As the countdown to Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai approaches the eighteen-month mark, Organisers and Participants alike are turning their ambitions and detailed plans into reality. The groundwork has been laid, and the current phase of development will see all stakeholders move forward in unison in the realisation of a World Expo that will shine for Future Society.”

World Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai will take place on a 155-ha site on Yumeshima Island between 13 April and 13 October 2025. The Expo will address the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) under the theme “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”, with its three subthemes being Saving Lives, Empowering Lives and Connecting Lives.