Osaka Expo Organizers Expect to Face Additional Costs

Osaka, June 27 (Jiji Press)--Organizers of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, a city in western Japan, expect to shoulder up to some 7.6 billion yen in additional costs due to delays in the construction of pavilions, a senior official said Thursday. 

The additional costs are attributable to slow progress in a shift by some participants from Type A self-built pavilions to simpler ones, Hiroyuki Ishige, secretary general of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, told a press conference.

The maximum construction cost of Expo venues is currently estimated at up to 235 billion yen. The association is considering the possibility of utilizing 13 billion yen in reserve funds included in the cost estimate. "We are not considering any new increase" in the total cost, Ishige said.

As of Wednesday, 51 countries planned to construct Type A pavilions. But contractors have not been decided for 10 of them due to the impact of soaring material prices.

The Japanese side has built nine Type X simpler pavilions, calling on such struggling participants to switch from Type A so that they will be ready by the April opening of the event. Only three countries have decided to use Type X.

The construction costs for Type X pavilions will be collected later from the participants that use them. If the remaining six Type X pavilions are not used by any participants, the association will bear the construction costs totaling 7.6 billion yen.

The association has also prepared Type C pavilions, which are shared by multiple participants. Only five countries have decided to shift from Type A to Type C.

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