MICE News
News
2025.06.17
Expo History's First Large-Scale MICE Event!
The First-Ever MICE Event at World Expo:
The MICE & Event Professionals Meeting at Expo 2025!
In April 2023, the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition came together with 5 other organizations to establish the Sustainable Event Management Consortium with the purpose of advancing the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) set forth by the United Nations. Subsequently, the consortium created a guidebook from the perspective of event production and professionals. Aiming to leverage the momentum of Expo 2025 and widely share this resource with a variety of industries, the MICE & Event Professionals Meeting at Expo was held on June 10th, 2025. Marking a first in Expo history, the event offered seminars that showcased sustainable practices within the Expo venue, including case studies from the Australia and the Netherland pavilions, and brought together MICE professionals from various sectors of the industry.
This event, hosted within the Expo venue, welcomed over 300 participants from 10 countries, including Japan. Attendees included MICE industry professionals, local government and convention bureau representatives from across Japan, members of the media, as well as delegates from country pavilions and international MICE organizations.
The first section featured a presentation by the Sustainability Bureau of the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition, highlighting sustainability efforts at the Expo venue. The second section spotlighted innovative sustainable initiatives from the Australia and the Netherlands pavilions. The last section highlighted remarks from a representative from the Cabinet Secretariat’s Secretariat of the Headquarters for the World Expo 2025, and a speaker from the Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau, which has signed an MOU for MICE collaboration with the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau.
These remarks were followed by the first-ever large-scale networking event for MICE professionals in Expo history, where the over 300 participants formed connections to support the future growth of the meetings and events industry. Attendees shared overwhelmingly positive feedback such as:
“We’re truly grateful to see a MICE-focused event held during the Expo—it was fantastic!”
“The turnout was incredible.”
“I made connections across a wide range of sectors that I am optimistic will lead to future business opportunities.”
Through this landmark event, the Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau hopes to nurture these relationships and continue pioneering efforts to bring new MICE opportunities throughout Osaka and Japan.
Seminar Photos
■ The Event's Schedule
Opening Remarks
Organizer Introduction: Yoshikazu Tanaka, Director of MICE, Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau
Promotor Introduction: Masaru Ishikawa, Expo Site Operation Producer, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
The First Section
Presentation 1: Sustainable Practices at the Osaka, Kansai Expo
Yasushi Nagami, Director-General, Sustainability Bureau, Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
The Second Section
Presentation 2: Advanced Case Studies of Country Pavilion
Constantine Nikolakopoulos, Assistant Manager, Partnership Program, Australia Pavilion
Aino Jansen, Project Director for the Dutch Participation at Expo 2025, Netherlands Pavilion
The Third Section
Japanese Government Representative: Manabu Inoue, Director General, Secretariat of the Headquarters for the World Expo 2025, Cabinet Secretariat
Foreign Guest Representative: Puripan Bunnag, Senior Vice President, Thailand Convention and Exhibition Bureau
Networking Party
Host Organizations (randomized order)
・Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition
・Japan Association for the Promotion of Creative Events (JACE)
・Japan Convention Management Association (JCMA)
・Osaka Convention & Toursim Bureau
The Osaka Convention & Tourism Bureau was the first in Japan to implement a sustainable event management guideline, The Sustainable Event Evaluation System, in addition to being the first convention bureau in the country to receive the official sustainable event management certification, ISO20121.
Read more about the sustainable event guidelines here: