Slovenia Axes Plan to Build Own Pavilion for 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo

The Yomiuri Shimbun

11:57 JST, October 5, 2023

Slovenia has become the first nation to abandon plans to construct its own pavilion for the 2025 Osaka-Kansai Expo, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.

The central European nation has become unable to secure adequate funds to build the facility amid soaring construction material prices, and will reportedly instead use a pavilion built by Japan and shared by multiple countries.

A senior official of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition — the event organizer — said one other country is considering switching to a shared pavilion.

According to the Slovenian Embassy in Tokyo, dealing with the massive floods that struck the nation in August has become a priority, and securing a budget sufficient for constructing the pavilion has become increasingly difficult as prices rise. Consequently, Slovenia decided in mid-September to switch from a Type A pavilion, which is constructed by the participating nation, to a Type C pavilion, which will be built by the association and shared by multiple nations and territories. The association has approved this change, the embassy said.

Slovenia will no longer need to shoulder the cost of constructing its pavilion, but opting for a shared facility will likely entail the loss of some originality.

Some 60 nations had been planning to construct their own pavilions for the expo, but many are facing delays and have struggled to lock in builders against a backdrop of skyrocketing material costs and a labor shortage in the construction industry. So far, the Czech Republic is the only nation to have received a building permit from the Osaka municipal government.

Angola has decided to change to a Type X pavilion — a facility to be constructed by the association based on a simple design with the aim of accelerating the building process. A participating nation covers the costs of building a Type X pavilion and can design the facility’s interior and exterior.