Romania's pavilion at the Osaka 2025 World Expo, which will take place from April 13 to October 13, has been built with sustainability in mind, including by Romanian workers, General Commissioner of the Romanian Section for Expo Osaka 2025 Ferdinand Nagy said on Wednesday.

He participated in a press conference alongside Ambassador of Japan in Bucharest Katae Takashi.

Nagy mentioned that the country's mascot at the Expo is an illustration of a pelican named Haru ('spring' in Japanese), which highlights the importance of Romania's national resources.

The official mentioned that the goal for the national pavilion is to attract one million visitors, while the Expo Osaka organisers' target for the entire event is 25 million visitors.

The activity calendar for the Romanian pavilion includes economic aspects, artistic events, and showcases major research projects such as ELI-NP, with the theme 'Land of Tomorrow.'

The budget for Romania's pavilion is 64 million lei, spread between 2022 and 2026, according to the General Commissioner of the Romanian Section.

'The pavilion was awarded through a bidding process to a Japanese company, as only they were able to construct it. The contract value is 20 million lei for a 'turnkey' pavilion,' he added.

Romania's pavilion is part of the circular economy, as its structure is recyclable and reusable.

'The structure was made in France. They are working in Japan with workers from Romania, Romanian workers. I found out when I was in Japan. The French, because it's a French company, are working with Romanian workers whom they brought to Japan to work on Romania's pavilion. It's something unusual, and it's something to be proud of, after all,' said Ferdinand Nagy.

In turn, the Ambassador of Japan voiced hope that Romania's presence at Expo Osaka will bring greater visibility to the country.

'Unfortunately, Romania is not very well known by Japanese businesspeople. So the goal of this event was also to promote Romania,' said Katae Takashi, according to the official translation. In this context, the Japanese ambassador also mentioned the Strategic Partnership between the two countries.

According to the diplomat, Osaka Expo is a 'window to the world' for the Japanese people.

'I hope that through the organisation of the Osaka Expo and Romania's participation, the bilateral relations will continue to develop and deepen, as they were elevated to the level of a Strategic Partnership two years ago,' added Ambassador Katae Takashi.

This will be the third time that Osaka hosts the World Expo, organised once every five years, after the editions in 1970 and 1990.

According to the Romanian Foreign Affairs Ministry (MAE), on November 16, 2022, Government Decision no. 1399/2022 was adopted, approving Romania's participation in the World Expo 'Designing Future Society for Our Lives,' which will be held in Osaka, Kansai region, Japan, from April 13 to October 13, 2025. The Government Decision also outlines the administrative measures necessary for Romania's preparation and participation in this event, including the establishment of an interministerial organising committee.

During the meeting of the interministerial committee for organising Romania's participation at Expo 2025 Osaka on August 21, 2023, the architectural concept for the pavilion, called 'The Romanian Magic Box,' was adopted. This architectural concept was selected following a competition organised by the 'Ion Mincu' University of Architecture and Urbanism in Bucharest, in partnership with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, with the participation of students from the Faculty of Architecture. AGERPRES (RO - author: Oana Ghita, editor: Marius Fratila; EN - editor: Adina Panaitescu)