TOKYO: France will file an application in September for the construction of its pavilion at the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, according to a French official overseeing the pavilion.

Jacques Maire, commissioner general for France Pavilion at COFREX, the European country’s exhibition company, assured the filing in a recent interview with Jiji Press, while most of countries and regions planning to build their own pavilions have difficulty concluding deals with contractors amid rising materials costs and labor shortages.

Of 56 such countries and regions, only South Korea and the Czech Republic have so far filed their applications to construct pavilions with the Osaka municipal government.

Maire, also CEO of COFREX, said he wants to help bring the major international trade show in western Japan to a successful end. At the same time, he called on Japan to strengthen public relations to attract visitors from all over the world, by using influencers and videos appealing to younger generations.

Osaka Expo organizers expect about 28 million visitors over the six months from April 2025. But he expressed concerns that in France, people are talking more about Saudi Arabia’s candidacy for the 2030 World Expo.

According to him, the French facility will be built in “a special zone” that will make it a pavilion people can see next to the Japanese one after entering the main gate.

France hopes to build the pavilion at a cost of 5,000 euros per square meter. Although Obayashi Corp. and other contractors presented much higher figures based on the initial construction plan, the pavilion team managed to keep the cost within the budget by having a prefabricated office for staff and by getting approval from the Japanese side to use imported materials.

The pavilion’s permanent exhibition section alone will be as large as 2,000 square meters. But the team is determined not to downgrade the quality.

Maire expressed willingness to showcase technologies useful to people, such as a robot suit that can help an old mother if she breaks her leg, in line with the pavilion concept of love, rather than just making it a corporate showroom.

He also stressed that he wants to show visitors something countering isolation, at a time when young people are becoming less internationally minded in Europe with the rise of the far right.

Commitment to and cooperation in resolving common crises such as global warming will lead to happiness, he pointed out.

On the challenge of providing accommodation for thousands of expo staff from participating countries and regions, Maire proposed that a large cruise ship be chartered or the Osaka prefectural and city governments secure enough hotel rooms.

Before becoming COFREX CEO, Maire served as a diplomat and a lawmaker in his country.

JIJI Press