The participation in this year's exhibition in Osaka will show the Japanese public and business the modern image of Bulgaria as an established regional investment and innovation hub, BTA reported.
This was said by President Rumen Radev in his speech at the ceremony on the occasion of Bulgaria Day within the framework of the EXPO 2025 world exhibition in Osaka, Japan.
The long-standing relations of sincere friendship between Bulgaria and Japan are an important priority in Bulgarian foreign policy. Our fruitful cooperation in the economy, science, education and culture, people-to-people contacts, political dialogue and interaction on the international stage have continued to develop steadily over the years, the President said.
He emphasized that the first world exhibition in Asia was held in Osaka in 1970, and has become a real showcase of Japan's economic, scientific and technological progress. The head of state also said that the exhibition in Osaka has an important symbolic meaning for Bulgarians, since here Bulgaria is presenting its healthy yogurt for the first time.
In the following years, it has become a real calling card of Bulgaria in your country. I am sincerely glad that this year, when Osaka is hosting us again, we will take another very important step in the history of our cooperation. We have an audience with His Majesty Emperor Naruhito and a meeting with Prime Minister Ishiba, at which a joint declaration on the establishment of a strategic partnership between our countries will be signed. The rise in the level of our relations is a natural result of the long-standing friendship between our peoples, of our shared values, of the fruitful cooperation in many areas and of its further development and deepening, also pointed out the Head of State Rumen Radev.
I would like to note with satisfaction the increased interest of Japanese business in the restoration and return of their activities in Bulgaria. More and more foreign companies are realizing Bulgaria's advantages in the field of high technologies, innovations, artificial intelligence, as well as our strategic geographical location, stable macroeconomic conditions and the advantages of investing and developing business innovations in Bulgaria, the head of state also said.
Earlier, the president signed the book for official guests of the exhibition and Koji Haneda, Commissioner General of EXPO Osaka, was also welcomed.
A speech was also delivered within the framework of the celebrations of Bulgaria Day by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Hisayuki Fujii.
Today, President Rumen Radev and the delegation led by him will also visit the Bulgarian pavilion at the exhibition.
The cultural program will feature dancers from the Folklore Ensemble "Trakia", who will present traditional Bulgarian dances from the Shopa region and Thrace, multimedia with Church Slavonic chants, opera performances in Bulgarian and Japanese by Maria Slavova, musical performances by Kalin Veliov (drums), Viktor Nikolaev (piano), Bratya Vladigerovi (piano and trumpet) and singer Nina Nikolina.
On Bulgaria Day, the Bulgarian pavilion at EXPO 2025 will also present the April issue of BTA's magazine for literature, art and culture LIK, dedicated to Bulgaria and world exhibitions, which was published in Bulgarian, English and Japanese. The presentation will be in front of students studying Bulgarian at Japanese universities, led by BTA Director General Kiril Valchev. A simultaneous online connection with the multimedia center in the "MaxiM" hall is planned. at the agency's headquarters in Sofia and 40 national BTA press clubs in Bulgaria and abroad.
165 countries and regions and nine international organizations are participating in the EXPO 2025 world exhibition, presenting their cultures, ideas and innovations in about 180 pavilions set aside for the purpose. The central theme of this edition of the international event is "Designing the future society for our lives", and it is planned to organize interactive exhibitions, demonstrations of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics, presentation of sustainable and innovative solutions in the fields of architecture, energy and healthcare, exhibitions for smart cities and others. The forum opened in April and will continue until October this year, and is expected to be visited by nearly 30 million people.