Three economic missions are being organised for the Osaka World Expo by the Chamber of Commerce for Luxembourg nationals in collaboration with GIE Luxembourg@Expo2025Osaka. "World Fairs are an opportunity to promote the expertise of Luxembourg companies," , chair of the Chamber of Commerce, stated at an information day on 25 February 2025.
More than 28m visitors are expected between 13 April and 13 October at the Osaka World Expo, where 161 countries and 25 international organisations will be represented. "Luxembourg has chosen to present itself with a pavilion that shows the country in its entirety, in all its different facets, be it its history, culture, gastronomy or economy," said , minister for the economy, SMEs, energy and tourism. This will be Luxembourg's 25th participation in a World Expo. "Within the pavilion, the sectors of fintech, artificial intelligence, space, ICT, health and the circular economy will be particularly highlighted, while demonstrating that the country is a European economic and technological hub", Ernster emphasised.
Sustained interests
The aim of these economic missions is to develop new markets between Japanese and Luxembourg companies. Japan is Luxembourg's second largest trading partner in Asia. It has also become the world's third largest economy, recently overtaking Germany. Close relations between Luxembourg and Japan have been maintained for several years and have intensified in recent months. In January 2024, the minister of foreign affairs and foreign trade, (DP) visited Japan, leading to technical negotiations on an aviation agreement and the introduction of a working holiday programme offering young Luxembourgers and Japanese access to local jobs to finance their stay. In June 2024, another economic mission was carried out, leading to the signing of an agreement with the Japanese space agency.
"Japan is establishing itself as an important economic partner for Luxembourg, also because in these troubled geopolitical times, it is important to be able to count on a solid democracy like Japan," emphasised the managing director of the Chamber of Commerce, . "The productivity aspect is an important element in Japan, and we certainly have a lot to learn from them in this respect.”
Three missions, three themes
The next economic missions will take place in parallel with the World Expo. The first, from 24 to 31 May, will cover the various economic sectors and will be marked by the Luxembourg Day organised on 30 May at the pavilion. and Bettel will be taking part. The second mission, focusing on the space sector, will take place from 12 to 18 July. It will be accompanied by the Bettel, Delles and the minister for digitalisation, research and higher education, . The third mission, from 14 to 19 July, will focus on the information and communication technology, fintech, robotics, health and artificial intelligence sectors, under the aegis of Delles and Obertin.
All the economic missions will also visit Tokyo, the capital of Japan and the city with the highest GDP in the world, as well as the Luxembourg pavilion. Of course, company visits are on the programme, as are pre-arranged meetings with prospective clients and networking receptions. Some twenty companies have already expressed an interest in taking part, and further registrations are expected following the information session held at the Chamber of Commerce on 25 February.
In 2023, trade in goods between Japan and Luxembourg represented €361m euros in imports (mainly machines and appliances, electrical equipment, optical and photographic equipment and musical instruments) and €78m in exports (textiles, machines and appliances and electrical equipment), while trade in services represented €224m in imports and €959m in exports.
The pavilion by STDM architects is currently in the final stages of installation. It respects the principles of the circular economy and can therefore be completely dismantled. "The important stage of installing the membrane covering our pavilion has been completed, and we are now in the process of installing the audiovisual installations," explained André Hansen, the pavilion's general commissioner. We also know that negotiations are underway for the subsequent re-use of materials in Japan, but that nothing has yet been finalised. In total, the organisers have a budget of €30m for the pavilion, which is €2m less than for the Dubai pavilion, even if inflation has taken its toll.
Read the original French-language version of this news report /