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By Staff Reporter
Zimbabwe will participate at the Expo 2025 Osaka which is expected to unlock the country’s value in terms of economic growth.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Ambassador James Manzou said the country’s participation at the Expo provides an opportunity to forge more partnerships and attract investment from new markets.
The Expo 2025 Osaka is an upcoming World Expo organised and sanctioned by the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), which will be held in Osaka, Japan from 13 April to 13 October 2025.
Zimbabwe, he said, will take advantage of its participation to attract investment in various sectors of the economy such as mining, agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing, among others.
“In line with our foreign policy thrust, as a ‘Friend to all, enemy to none’, Zimbabwe will forge new partnerships and attract investment including from new frontiers at Expo 2025, in line with the Government’s approach over the past five years,” said Ambassador Manzou.
“Through engagement, re-engagement, and re-affirmation, our primary objective is to improve relations, and foster economic growth, with the main aim to improve the living standards of our citizens.”
The six-month-long Expo will be held from April 13 to October 13, 2025, under the theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives”.
“Clearly, the theme is a clarion call on all of us to maximise our potential, while leveraging on the opportunities arising from our interconnected world, where synergies are the lynchpin of our global society.
“This befitting theme could not have come at a better time, following an incessant disruption of business which was accentuated by the Covid-19 pandemic over the past few years,” he said.
Added Ambassador Manzou: “Zimbabwe’s participation at Expo 2025 will provide an excellent opportunity for us to market our unlimited investment opportunities in agriculture, mining, tourism, manufacturing, and technology.
“On the cultural front, we will also showcase our rich heritage. This includes our diversity in terms of culture, dress, and our traditional foods which have become an essential element to reassert our identity and have also become integral in our cuisine! Zimbabwe will also market its unlimited tourist attractions, apart from our major drawcard, the majestic Victoria Falls.”
Zimbabwe will also showcase the hugely-in-demand Zimbabwean workforce equally driving key industries across the globe.
As part of the preparations, the Government has appointed ZimTrade Chief Executive Mr. Allan Majuru as Commissioner-General for Expo 2025 Osaka.
Mr. Majuru brings a wealth of experience to Expo 2025 Osaka, accumulated from organising Zimbabwe’s international trade missions regionally and internationally, especially over the past five years.
“This World Expo is a platform for Zimbabwe to consolidate and position itself as a preferred destination for tourism and investment and as a source market for goods and services.
“The country has recorded important milestones in its re-engagement efforts under the mantra ‘Friend to all and enemy to none’ and I would like to leverage on the achievement by President Mnangagwa to reach out to millions of people who are expected to grace this occasion,” he said.
Mr. Majuru said the Expo’s main theme would be supported by three sub-themes which are connecting lives, saving lives and empowering lives.
“Zimbabwe would be participating in the connecting lives sub-theme which resonates well will our re-engagement effort and our assertion that ‘Zimbabwe is open for business’.
“The sub-theme highlights our efforts in enriching communities through mutually beneficial partnerships, the power of co-creation, and how we are leveraging on technology to uplift our livelihoods,” he said.
Zimbabwe, Mr. Majuru said. will be in an Organiser-Built Shared Pavilion where it will showcase through exhibitions, business-to-business meetings, commercial activities, cultural exchanges, and wet demonstrations.
“We will also conduct side events such as trade and investment seminars, business forum,s and sampling African cuisines, among other activities to amplify our presence in Japan. Zimbabwe will also hold its National Day celebrations at this global event where a number of activities will be undertaken to market Zimbabwe,” he added.
Zimbabwe participating at the expo is eyeing a 15 percent annual increase in tourist arrivals, a 10 percent annual increase in trade deals, and a similar increase in registered investment deals.
Japanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Ambassador Satoshi Tanaka said his country has put in place a number of planning meetings and events to facilitate and manage the flow of information.
“This platform is for participating countries to be updated in terms of preparations. Based on its extensive experience in hosting previous expos, Japan understands the challenges of developing countries, such that an assistance programme.
“Covering the periods before, during, and after the Expo has been set up. The assistance will be in the form of financial assistance and technical support, to cover 80 to 100 countries.
“The Embassy will continue to pledge its support by working closely with ZimTrade including publicizing the event in other provinces,” he said.
Twenty-eight million visitors from across the world are expected at the Expo and 150 countries have confirmed their participation.