Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai celebrates BIE Day

On 12 October, the penultimate day of Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai, Organiser and Participants have joined to pay tribute to the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) for BIE Day.

Taking place after a succession of National Days and Special Days throughout the 184 days of the World Expo, BIE Day is an opportunity for the BIE and its 184 Member States to celebrate the achievements of Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai as it draws to a close.

A dedicated ceremony was held in the Shining Hat - Expo Hall to launch the day's activities, with representatives of International Participants joining BIE officials and Japanese dignitaries for a flag-raising ceremony, the anthems of the BIE and Japan, speeches and cultural performances.

Japan's Minister for the World Expo, Yoshitaka Ito indicated: "Throughout the last six months, diverse cultures from around the world have gathered together in one place, with stakeholders from around the world voluntarily engaging in initiatives, dialogue, and collaboration. I am convinced that this Expo has served as a roadmap for overcoming global fragmentation. We are determined to pass on the insights and experience gained through Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan to guide the next Expos - Specialised Expo 2027 Belgrade, Horticultural Expo 2027 Yokohama, and World Expo 2030 Riyadh."

The President of the General Assembly of the BIE, Alain Berger, stated: "BIE Day invites us to reaffirm the core values upheld by Expos and the BIE: education, innovation, and international cooperation. These principles are the foundations of global dialogue, which is today more necessary than ever. Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai embodies these shared commitments. It provides a unique platform where nations come together to develop real-world solutions and address the challenges of our time."

The Chairperson of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, Masakazu Tokura, said: "During the 183 days from the opening of the Expo until today, I reflected on the more than 170-year history of World Expos and felt keenly its enduring quintessence and its core spirit that continues to evolve with time. The Expo will end tomorrow, but the whole world has united as one as symbolised by the Grand Ring, overcoming differences in race, geography, and crisis of division. As the Organiser, we would like to express our sincere gratitude to all Official Participants and every related party for the success of holding this Expo here in Japan."

The Secretary General of the BIE, Dimitri S. Kerkentzes, declared: "Here in Yumeshima, over 150 countries have presented the best of themselves in beautiful and inspiring pavilions, and seized the opportunity to engage in dialogue, create new links and strengthen existing relations. During times of turbulence, Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai has been a beacon of all that is wonderful in the world. After Osaka, we look forward to Specialised Expo 2027 in Belgrade; Horticultural Expo 2027 in Yokohama, and of course World Expo 2030 in Riyadh. The BIE ensures the continuity of the values and the memory of Expos, from one exhibition to the next."

The cultural performances during the ceremony featured dazzling shows representing Japan (host of World Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai and Horticultural Expo 2027 Yokohama - GREEN x EXPO 2027), as well as Saudi Arabia (host of World Expo 2030 Riyadh) and Serbia (host of Specialised Expo 2027 Belgrade).

Later in the day, the BIE Day Awards Ceremony will be held, during which the recipients of the Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai Official Participant Awards, the BIE-Cosmos Prize and BIE Medals will be announced.

World Expos, officially known as International Registered Exhibitions, are global gatherings of nations addressing universal challenges of our time. These unparalleled global events offer a journey inside a chosen theme through engaging and immersive activities. Taking place under the theme "Designing Future Society for Our Lives", Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai opened its gates on 13 April and will close on 13 October.