On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, Ondřej Soška, general commissioner of the Czech participation in the world exhibition EXPO 2025, was elected to the so-called Steering Committee. He thus became one of the six representatives of the European Union, who will have greater influence in negotiations with the Japanese organizers and will be able to better promote Czech and European interests
“I greatly value being elected to the steering committee, and at the same time, I feel a great obligation to those who have placed their trust in me. I know from my predecessors that the Steering Committee is a key body in the preparatory phase of the World Exhibition and during it. At the beginning of June, we organized a successful coordination meeting of the participating states of the European Union at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague. We wanted to show on the one hand that we take the Czech participation in the world exhibition in Osaka, Japan extremely seriously, but also that we are able to organize a high-quality and interesting event in the way we plan to do it in the Czech national pavilion next year,” explains the general commissioner of the Czech participation in the world exhibition Ondřej Soška and adds: “Representatives of European countries also noticed this fact and suggested me as a nominee for the steering committee.”
Commissioner-General Soška was elected to the Steering Committee during the International Meeting of Participating Countries, which took place this week in Nara, Japan, a regional business center and tourist town about 30 kilometers from Osaka. They will be among the representatives from France, Italy, Holland, Romania, and Slovenia (for the EU), but also for example the USA, Great Britain, Switzerland or Brazil.
The Steering Committee is a management committee composed exclusively of commissioners general of the participating countries, who are elected from among the member states of the International Bureau for Exhibitions (BIE). It currently has 26 members. The committee represents the interests of the member countries, manages the discussion with the host country, and is also supposed to be the closest partner of the Japan Association for EXPO 2025. Its goal is to make daily operations as easy as possible and make preparations for the world exhibition more efficient.
At the beginning of the first meeting of the Steering Committee, its members elected the chairman, the Swiss Commissioner General Manuel Salchli. He has been involved in world exhibitions for almost 20 years and is one of the most experienced members of the committee. Vice-chairmen became commissioners general from China, Mali, and Peru. However, the first meeting was not only a protocol meeting, but given that there are only 290 days left until the start of EXPO 2025, the committee discussed with representatives of the organizers a whole range of issues that arose from the meeting within the framework of the two-day International Meeting of Participating Countries. Among the topics discussed were operational issues of national pavilions, opportunities for international cooperation at business conferences or rules for the operation of commercial spaces.
About the Czech pavilion at EXPO 2025
In December 2022, after more than twenty years, the Office of the Commissioner General announced an open anonymous architectural competition for the design of the national pavilion for EXPO 2025. 38 competition teams applied for it, from which an expert jury led by the world-renowned architect Eva Jiřična selected the winning design in March 2023 in the shape of a glass spiral by Apropos Architects. The supporting structure of the building will be made up of modern wooden panels, while the facade will be made of art glass, which has a centuries-old tradition in the Czech Republic. The national pavilion will offer a worthy background for the Czech participation in EXPO 2025, which will be held from April to October 2025 on the artificial island of Yumeshima in the Osaka Bay. The pavilion will have a permanent exhibition, a multifunctional auditorium, facilities for business meetings, a restaurant, a VIP lounge, and in front of the pavilion there will be a relaxation area with a view of the sea for visitors.
About Czech participation in EXPO 2025
The Czech Republic will participate as an independent state in the EXPO world exhibition for the sixth time. Ondřej Soška, who won the selection procedure of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with his concept and theme “Talent and creativity for life”, holds the position of general commissioner from September 2022. The Czech Republic should be presented in Osaka not only with what the Japanese know very well and have admired for a long time, for example Czech glass and classical music, but especially with Czech innovations, nanotechnologies, promising startups, and regional talent.
You can find more information on the website of the Czech participation in the world exhibition EXPO 2025. You can also follow us on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube.
From January 2023, the Office of the General Commissioner is part of the network of Czech Centers.