On Wednesday, June 26, 2024, Ondřej Soška, the Commissioner General of Czechia at EXPO 2025, was elected to the Steering Committee of Commissioners General. This prestigious position makes him one of six representatives from the European Union who will have a greater influence in negotiations with the Japanese organizers and better advocate for Czech and European interests.
"I am deeply honored to have been elected to the Steering Committee and I feel a strong commitment to those who have placed their trust in me. I know from the experiences of my predecessors that the Steering Committee is a key body both in the preparatory phase of the World EXPO and during its execution. At the beginning of June, we held a successful coordination meeting of the EU participating countries at the Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Prague. Our goal was not only to demonstrate our strong commitment to the Czech participation at the EXPO 2025 in Osaka, Japan, but also to show that we are capable of organizing a high-quality and enriching event, as we plan to do in the Czech National Pavilion next year," explains Ondřej Soška, Czech Commissioner General at EXPO 2025, and continues: "These efforts were recognized by the representatives of the European countries, who nominated me for the Steering Committee."
Commissioner General Soška was elected to the Steering Committee during the International Participants Meeting taking place this week in Nara, Japan, a regional commercial centre and popular tourist destination located about 30 kilometres from Osaka. He joins representatives from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Slovenia (for the EU), as well as the USA, the UK, Switzerland and Brazil.
The Steering Committee is a governing body composed exclusively of Commissioners General from the participating countries, elected from among the member states of the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE). The committee currently consists of 26 members. It represents the interests of member countries, guides discussions with the host country, and serves as the closest partner to the Japan Association for Expo 2025. Its goal is to facilitate daily operations and streamline the preparations for the World Expo.
At the outset of the first Steering Committee meeting, its members elected the President, Swiss Commissioner General Manuel Salchli, who has nearly 20 years of experience in the world of expositions and is one of the most experienced members of the Committee. The Commissioners General of China, Mali and Peru were elected as Vice-Presidents. The first meeting was not merely procedural; with only 291 days remaining until the opening of EXPO 2025, the Committee discussed a wide range of issues with the organizers that had arisen during the two-day International Participants Meeting. Topics included operational matters of national pavilions, opportunities for international cooperation at business conferences, and regulations for the operation of commercial spaces.
