Two days from October 25 to October 26, 2022, the Japan Association for the 2025 Japan World Exposition (hereinafter referred to as the Association) held the International Planning Meeting (hereinafter referred to as IPM), the first international conference regarding Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan (hereinafter referred to as the Expo) in Osaka, Japan.
Around 240 people from 100 foreign governments and 5 international organisations participated in this IPM.
■ Opening remark by Mr. HANEDA Koji, Commissioner General of the 2025 World Exposition in Japan
The success of any International Exposition is dependent on close and mutually satisfactory collaboration among the host and participants. I wish that this first IPM will be informative and useful, serving as a catalyst to enable each participant to make concrete and smooth preparation for the Expo 2025.
■ Opening remark by Mr. Dimitri Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the Bureau International des Expositions (hereinafter referred to as BIE)
Japan has been active in making efforts steadily towards 2025 ever since it was elected four years ago as the host. 900 days to go seems to in the future, but there is not so much time left. For our shared goal of the international exposition, swift and efficient decision-making is necessary.
On behalf of the BIE, I thank you all for your presence here today and for your commitment to this wonderful project. I look forward to our exchanges in the coming days and more so, ramping up the ongoing preparations for the Expo 2025.
■ The main programmes of Day 1 (October 25)
The experts explained the theme of the Expo and introduced case studies of projects working on the three sub-themes.
In addition, Mr. ISHIGE Hiroyuki, Secretary General of the Association, described the status of preparation for each project of the Expo and unveiled a fly-through video of the Expo site for the first time.
The status of each project toward the opening of the Expo was also explained.
※Fly-through video
・1 minute 56 seconds version: https://youtu.be/Wq7ravMwEyo
・30 seconds digest version: https://youtu.be/O9ftNKIlwfI
■ The signing ceremony for Participation Contract was held on October 25.
In the evening, the Association held the first “Signing ceremony for the Participation Contract” with the 9 Official Participants.
Official Participants: Republic of Azerbaijan, Kingdom of the Netherlands, State of Qatar, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Czech Republic, Federal Republic of Germany, Hungary, Federative Republic of Brazil, and Republic of Poland
■ The main programmes of Day 2 (October 26)
On day 2, Yumeshima site visits were conducted.
Bilateral meetings for participants who build their own pavilions were held to implement their smooth construction works. After the IPM, excursions to various locations in the Osaka-Kansai region were also conducted for those who wished to deepen their understanding of the regions.
■ Press conference after the IPM
At a press conference held after the IPM on October 26, Mr. ISHIGE Hiroyuki, Secretary General of the Association gave an overview of the outcomes of the two-day event. He sent the message to the participants “Let’s make this Expo something that transcends time and space and stays in people’s hearts!”, and explained that the IPM enabled to deepen the relationship of by showing the site to the participants and answering the questions from the participants. He also explained that in the IPM, a summary of national days and special days to be set by each Official Participant and theme weeks and best practices to be held at the site such as were also clarified for the participants.
Mr. Dimitri Kerkentzes, Secretary General of the BIE made a comment, “We have big expectations for the Expo 2025 and have reconfirmed the expectations today. We look forward to continuing working together until the opening of the Expo”.
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