Belgium's participation in Expo 2025 Osaka: where are we?

All sorts of things are involved in a world exhibition. Organising such a world expo takes an enormous amount of time. Years before the expo takes place, the process is slowly launched. We will provide you with an overview:

The beginning

22 November 2016: France applies to host the World Expo in Paris. 

24 April 2017: Osaka, Japan files its candidacy to host Expo 2025. Around the same time, Baku, Azerbaijan also submits its candidacy to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE). 

22 May 2017: Yekaterinburg, Russia applies to host Expo 2025. 

In the process, Russia rounds up the candidates. However, on 21 January 2018, France is forced to withdraw its candidature, due to developments taking place in the country at the time. 

23 November 2018: the BIE organises a secret ballot, from which Osaka, Japan emerges as the winner. 

Expo 2025 will take place in Osaka and will be called Expo 2025 Osaka from here on out. Concrete plans for the next world exhibition can be initiated starting now. 

Expo 2025 Osaka

23 May 2019: the directors of Expo 2025 Osaka are designated. That group will consist of: Hiroyuki Ikeda, Hirofumi Yoshimura (Governor of Osaka), Ichiro Matsui (Mayor of Osaka), Hiroyuki Ishige (Secretary General), Hiroyuki Takeuchi (Vice Secretary General) and Manatsu Ichinoki (Vice Secretary General). 

June 2021: the position of Chairman & Representative Director of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition is assigned to Masakazu Tokura, who may also call himself Chairman of the Japan Business Association. 

België at Expo 2025 Osaka

28 November 2021: Belgium announces its participation in Expo 2025 Osaka. You can read more about the Ministerial Council that approved participation in the expo here. Why is Belgium participating? What does Belgium gain from participating in a world expo? You can read more about that here. 

26 October 2022: the first International Planning Meeting (IPM) takes place in Osaka. These meetings provide an opportunity for Expo 2025 Osaka participants to come together. Belgium attends this first IPM in October. Curious to know more? Read it here. 

19 November 2022: BelExpo, together with the Buildings Agency, launches the Public Tender for the construction, design and dismantling of the Belgian pavilion for Expo 2025 Osaka. 

8 December 2022: The Signing Ceremony for signing the Participation Agreement takes place in Osaka. At that time, a Princely Economic Mission also goes out from Belgium to Japan, led by Her Majesty Princess Astrid. BelExpo is taking part in it and is taking the opportunity to sign the Participation Agreement and establish links with both Belgian participants and Japanese partners. Read more about the mission here. What exactly does the signing of that agreement entail? Read it all here. 

26 January 2023: three candidate consortia are selected to build and design the Belgian pavilion. The three remaining candidates will work closely with BelExpo and the Buildings Agency over the coming months to develop a design that meets the requirements of such a pavilion. 

13 April 2023: exactly two years before the start of Expo 2025, the Ground-Breaking Ceremony will take place on Yumeshima Island. On that symbolic date, the first works are carried out on what will become the expo site. Read more about it here.

Curious about the progress of all participating countries? Read all about it here!