Today, Thursday 8 December 2022, during the official Signing Ceremony in Osaka, the Belgian government will formally confirm its participation in the next World Expo, namely Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
The Belgian Commission General for International Exhibitions, also known as BelExpo, is responsible for the Belgian participation in World Expos and other international exhibitions. The most recent projects completed by BelExpo include the Belgian participations in Expo 2020 Dubai and Floriade Expo 2022 in Almere.
BelExpo oversees for each expo the entire operation from beginning to end, under the guidance of a Commissioner General and a Deputy Commissioner, with the support of a Technical Committee and the Belgian federal and regional governments. When a project includes the construction of a full-fledged pavilion, we closely work with the Belgian governmental Building Agency.
Today, Thursday 8 December 2022, during the official Signing Ceremony in Osaka, the Belgian government will formally confirm its participation in the next World Expo, namely Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai.
The Belgian government in February 2022 officially accepted the invitation from the Japanese government to participate in Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai. BelExpo has been charged with the responsibility of organizing and coordinating the Belgian participation in Expo 2025 Osaka.
The Signing Ceremony also celebrates the collaboration between the two countries, Belgium and Japan for the coming project.
During today’s signing ceremony, the official Participation Agreement will be signed between Belgium and the Japanese organisers of Expo 2025 Osaka. The Participation Agreement confirms and formalizes the participation of Belgium.
After the invitation of the Japanese government, directed to the Belgian government, and the acceptance of that invitation by our Minister of Economy, the signing of the Participation Agreement officially kicks-off the Belgian participation.
The Belgian representatives that will be present in Osaka during the Signing Ceremony are Mr. Renaat Schrooten, Director General for Economic Analysis and International Economy of the FPS Economy, and Mr. Aldwin Dekkers, acting Commissioner-General of BelExpo. The Participation Agreement will be signed on behalf of Belgium by Mr. Schrooten who was appointed by BelExpo’s Executive Committee as temporary responsible of our participation to Expo 2025 Osaka in anticipation of the appointment of a new Commissioner General for Expo 2025 Osaka.
The Participation Agreement is a mandatory and standard agreement for any official participant in Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai. The agreement stipulates in detail the period during which the expo will take place (13 April 2025 to 13 October 2025) and the exact location (the artificial island of Yumeshima in the bay of Osaka).
The Belgian government agrees by these means to respect and follow the theme that is stipulated for Expo 2025 Osaka: Designing Future Society for Our Lives. Belgium commits itself to the sub-theme: Saving Lives.
In the participation agreement, Belgium formally agrees to the conditions and guidelines put forward by the official organization in charge of Expo 2025 Osaka.
BelExpo, as official representatives to Expo 2025 of the Belgian federal and regional governments, dedicates itself to implementing the participation, overseeing the construction, and conceptualizing the pavilion by focusing on the strong/focus points of Belgium and its federated states on the subject of saving lives, all while following the guidelines provided by the Japanese organization of the expo. That includes setting up a content program around Saving Lives and organizing events, individually or in collaboration with other countries and international organizations.
The Signing Ceremony makes the participation of Belgium and its federated states official. It gives BelExpo the confirmation to continue their work and to start taking concrete steps to design and build the Belgian pavilion, to set up the Belgian organisation and to work out the exhibition Belgium and its federated states will show the world at Expo 2025 Osaka.
BelExpo, in close collaboration with the Belgian governmental Building Agency, already launched a public tender for the design and construction of the Belgian pavilion, with special consideration to the chosen theme of “Saving Lives”. This first step will hire a consortium of architects and contractors who will work together on the pavilion.
The public tender allows BelExpo to first make a selection of maximum three candidate-consortia and provide them with the detailed assignment regarding the design and the plans for the pavilion. The candidates will have to submit a proposal, including a design for the Belgian pavilion. BelExpo will then select a final project for the Belgian pavilion.
The scenography, providing an immersive and exciting storyline of the content decided upon by the Belgian governments, will be decided in a later stadium via a separate public tender specifically dedicated to the visitor journey, which will include the fit-out of the exhibition space (the scenography) and the public spaces of the pavilion, the digital applications and a communication campaign.
Immediately prior to the signing ceremony, BelExpo organises an info seminar on Expo 2025 Osaka as part of the events of the Belgian Economic Mission to Japan. The seminar will take place on Thursday 8th of December 2022 at 17:00 in the Chapel on the 7th Floor of the Hilton Osaka hotel.
During the seminar both the organisers of Expo 2025 Osaka and BelExpo will present their concrete plans for the World Expo and will be available for Q&A. The seminar is mostly aimed at the Belgian participants of the Economic Mission with a purpose of providing them with information and waking their enthusiasm to participate and even become partners of the Belgian pavilion in 2025.