Abe to push Osaka Bid to host 2025 World Expo

March 4, 2018

Tokyo- Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe plans to make a strong push for a bid to host the 2025 World Expo in the western city of Osaka when he meets with a delegation from the Bureau International des Expositions.

The BIE delegation plans to stay in Japan Monday through Friday to assess the feasibility and viability of the Osaka Expo project. The delegation will be headed by BIE Executive Committee Chairman Choi Jai-chul.

The delegation is scheduled to visit Osaka and nearby Kyoto Wednesday and Thursday, including Yumeshima, an artificial island in Osaka Bay that is the proposed venue for the Expo. The meeting between Abe and the delegation is expected to take place in Tokyo on Tuesday.

The bidding race for the 2025 Expo also includes Ekaterinburg, Russia, and Baku, Azerbaijan. The Paris-based BIE will also send delegations to the two countries in April to assess the rival bids.

The findings by the delegations will be presented at a BIE general meeting in June. They will be a key factor for BIE member countries to determine the host site, a senior Japanese industry ministry official said.

The host will be determined by a vote from 170 member nations at a BIE general meeting in November. If any of the candidates fails to obtain a two-thirds majority, a runoff between the two leading contenders will be held.

Last month, France dropped its bid to host the Expo in Paris for financial reasons. Winning support from France and African countries that had backed France is the key to winning the race.

Japan aims to pull in votes from these countries by utilizing events to mark the 160th anniversary this year of diplomatic relations between Tokyo and Paris.

Japanese officials hope that their decision to hold next year's Group of 20 summit in Osaka will give momentum to the Expo bid. Jiji Press