Press Conference by Minister Nishimura (Excerpt)

*Note: This is a provisional translation for reference purposes only.

 

16:07-16:16
Friday, September 15, 2023
Press Conference Room, METI Main Building

Opening Remarks

Greeting upon resignationExpo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan

We have decided to strengthen the structure of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition and secure a relevant budget to ensure smooth preparations for the exposition.
Regarding the strengthening of the structure of the Association, in addition to nearly 60 members dispatched by the national government, mainly from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, a comprehensive strategy office will be newly established in the Association, and former Vice-Minister of Finance, Kinoshita Yasushi, will take office as an adviser. Additionally, Executive Vice President of Policy Research Institute, Ono Heihachiro, is to be dispatched from the Ministry of Finance. From METI, Director-General of the Kansai Regional Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry, Miura Takatoshi, and Director-General of the Business Environment Department, Small and Medium Enterprise Agency, Kobayashi Koji, will be newly dispatched. Furthermore, the National Police Agency, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will also dispatch personnel.
Regarding the relevant budget, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition is examining the actual amount required for the construction taking into account the escalating prices of building materials. We will scrutinize the examination results and discuss responses with the national government, the local governments and economic quarters, if necessary.
Ensuring the safety of visitors is the most fundamental and important point. In recent years, higher levels of security have been required. In order to take all possible measures to ensure the safety within the venue, the national government will responsibly secure the required budget, apart from that for the aforementioned site construction and operation costs. The specific amount will be scrutinized from now on.
While the national government takes these measures, yesterday, I requested the governor of Osaka Prefecture and the mayor of Osaka City to strengthen their efforts to prepare for the 2025 World Exposition.
Specifically, I asked for their understanding for the following three points: first, based on the verified results of the examination of the construction cost, the national government, the local governments and economic quarters may have to take collaborative action, if necessary; second, for improving the environment for accelerating the construction of pavilions of participating countries, Osaka Prefecture and Osaka City should ascertain the needs of construction companies, equipment companies and other related contractors regarding such matters as the securing of stockyards, and publicize their policies for required measures by around the end of September after making adjustments; and third, as access routes to the venue are limited, there is the need to take effective measures for TDM, or travel demand management, for the purpose of preventing the concentration of travel demand, and to consider concrete means for securing safety, including the collaboration between the Osaka prefectural police and the Association.
Governor Yoshimura and Mayor Yokoyama expressed their commitments to making their utmost efforts as the local municipalities in response to my request.
We will continue our concerted effort toward the success of Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.