METI Minister Nishimura Visits Osaka Prefecture, Attends Groundbreaking Ceremony for Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, and Visits Panasonic Holdings Corporation to Observe Automated Delivery Robots

1. Groundbreaking ceremony for the exposition

On April 13, 2023, exactly two years to the day before the opening day of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition held a “groundbreaking ceremony” for the exposition at the Expo site on Yumeshima Island in Osaka Prefecture, and Prime Minister Kishida and METI Minister Nishimura attended it. The ceremony brought together 255 stakeholders, including ministers and other government officials, members of the Diet or the council of the local governments and the governors of prefectures.

In addition, 16 participants, including Prime Minister Kishida, broke ground at the site, praying for a safe and successful completion of construction work toward the opening of the exposition.

2. Visiting Panasonic Holdings Corporation to observe automated delivery robots

Automated delivery robots are expected to become a way to address the labor shortages that distributors face in delivering goods over the “last one mile” of delivery. In order to view these robots, Minister Nishimura visited Panasonic Holdings Corporation, a company developing Automated Delivery Robots, and observed scenes where such robots were operating and a remote control room.

Links to related information

• Webpage related to the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition (in Japanese)
• Webpage exclusively for Automated Delivery Robots (in Japanese)

Divisions in Charge

• International Exhibitions Promotion Office, Commerce and Service Industry Policy Group
• Logistics Policy Planning Office, Commerce and Service Industry Policy Group