Press Release

2022.03.07 International Forum for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai to be held online

Aim is to promote understanding and participation
toward Japan’s Kansai region exposition

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, and the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) will host an online international forum to encourage official participation and to facilitate awareness and comprehension of the theme for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan: Designing Future Society for Our Lives. This Expo will be the next International Registered Exhibition* after Dubai.

*International Registered Exhibition: An international exhibition organised in compliance with the 1928 Paris Convention on International Exhibitions and approved by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE).

Forum Overview

Host:
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)
・Title:
Web Forum Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan (March 2022) —Designing Future Society for Our Lives
・Viewing period:
14:00 Monday, 7 March, 2022 – Friday, 31 March, 2023
・Content:
Keynote speeches on the ideal society in 2025 and beyond and the philosophy of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan;
Interviews with business persons operating commercial enterprises in Osaka, Kansai examining the appeal of Osaka, Kansai and characteristics of the area as a business venue.
・Language:
English
・How to view:
No registration required. Please click the following URL to view the site:
https://expo2025-webforum-march2022.com

Content

● Keynote speeches and interviews are presented in video format.
● Speaker positions are valid as of the date of this publication.

Greetings from the organisers:
WAKAMIYA Kenji, Minister for the World Expo 2025
TOKURA Masakazu, Chairman, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
SASAKI Nobuhiko, Chairman & CEO, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)

Keynote Speech 1: Courageous collaboration: Building the future society..together
Speaker: Dr. Alaa MURABIT

Keynote Speech 2: Designing Future Society for Our Lives—What is the happy way of life?
Speaker: Dr. Oussouby SACKO

Interview: Osaka, Kansai as a place for business
Speakers:
Ms. Simone Thomsen (President and Representative Director, Eli Lilly Japan K.K.)
Mr. Phillip Vincent (Managing Partner, East Asia / CEO, Japan, Plug and Play Japan)
Mr. Kiran Sethi (President, Jupiter International Corporation)
Mr. Tyas Sōsen (Japanese Organic Tea Sommelier, Tea Ceremony Instructor, The Tea Crane)
Mr. Bjorn Heiberg (President, Tower Knives)

About the Speakers

Keynote Speech 1
Courageous collaboration: Building the future society..together
Dr. Alaa MURABIT

Dr. Murabit will speak from the perspective of diversity and gender equality about the potential of expositions to pose questions to Japan or the world at large. She will discuss the importance of empowering women and the positive impact it can exert on the economy, governments and societies. Participants will have the opportunity to contemplate mindsets necessary to further facilitate gender equality.

Profile:
Dr. Murabit is a Libyan Canadian Doctor of Medicine. She is renowned as an expert on women’s education and sustainability, and is a Fellow of the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University. She is also the UN High-Level Commissioner on Health, Employment and Economic Growth.
She ranked in the top 20 alongside Ruth Bader-Ginsburg, Melinda Gates and Michelle Obama in British think tank apolitical’s list of the ‘Gender Equality Top 100: The Most Influential People in Global Policy 2019’.

Keynote Speech 2
Designing Future Society for Our Lives—What is the happy way of life?
Dr. Oussouby SACKO

The Deputy Chairman of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, Dr. Oussouby SACKO will explain the theme of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan: Designing Future Society for Our Lives. He will offer potential participants from numerous nations the opportunity to intensify their interest in Expo 2025, which will be hosted in Osaka.

Profile:
Born in the Republic of Mali in 1966. After graduating from high school, Oussouby SACKO studied in China at Beijing Language and Culture University and then at Southeast University in Nanjing, where he majored in architecture. After coming to Japan in 1991, he earned a PhD at Kyoto University Graduate School of Engineering, Department of Architecture. Focusing on topics such as ‘living space’, ‘machiya preservations in Kyoto’, ‘community regeneration’ and ‘preservation and renovation of world cultural heritages in Western Africa (city and architecture)’, his research explores the relationship between society and architectural space from various perspectives. His publications include Literacy and Culture of Knowledge (Nakanishiya Publishing, 2007) Contemporary African Culture Today (Seigensha Publishing, 2020). He became a lecturer in the Faculty of Humanities of Kyoto Seika University in 2001 and was promoted to Professor in 2013. On 1 April 2018, he was elected as President of the University.

Interviews
Osaka, Kansai as a place for business

Successful international residents of Kansai will be interviewed to seek their views on the appeal of Osaka and the Kansai area as a business location, and their expectations for Expo 2025.

Ms. Simone Thomsen (President and Representative Director, Eli Lilly Japan K.K.)
https://www.lilly.co.jp/who-we-are/local-leadership
Mr. Phillip Vincent (Managing Partner, East Asia / CEO, Japan, Plug and Play Japan)
https://japan.plugandplaytechcenter.com/
Mr. Kiran Sethi (President, Jupiter International Corporation)
https://www.jupiterinternational.jp/
Mr. Tyas Sōsen (Japanese Organic Tea Sommelier, Tea Ceremony Instructor, The Tea Crane)
https://www.the-tea-crane.com/jpn/
Mr. Bjorn Heiberg (President, Tower Knives)
https://www.towerknives.com/

Inquiries

Public Relations Department, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
media@expo2025.or.jp