Trade & Innovation mission to World Expo 2025 in Japan

World Expo 2025, Osaka, Japan

In 2025, the World Expo will be held in Osaka, Japan. This event will bring together participants from 160 countries around the world. Approximately 28.2 million visitors are expected for Japan and the East-Asian region.

The Netherlands will participate during this event and there will be a large Netherlands pavilion on site. The goal of the Netherlands expo participation is to position us as one of the global leaders in innovation and digital transformation.

Background

The global society is digitizing at a rapid pace and fast developments in the field of high tech are taking place. Moreover, today’s world is facing many challenges, which require innovative solutions. The Dutch spirit of innovation is based on the opportunities of cooperation. A lot of common ground is found with partners in Japan. Just like us, Japan has an open economy and is a leader in high tech. Societal challenges are similar, such as labor shortages, an ageing population, carbon emissions and reliable supply chains. Recent Japanese government policies are stimulating international collaboration which offer many opportunities. By working together, we can contribute to our shared ambitions and uphold technological leadership.

To realize digitalization and green transition, enabling technologies are necessary. That is why high tech, and digitalization perfectly go hand-in-hand in our track. The high tech domain mainly focuses on advanced semiconductors, photonics, nano- and quantum technology. The digitalization domain is mainly aimed at artificial intelligence (AI), 5G/6G, smart cities and infrastructure maintenance. The Netherlands and Japan complement each other in many ways in these areas and both governments are investing billions in further innovation. Furthermore, the Netherlands can benefit from the increasing Japanese attention to the application side of semiconductors, including investments in R&D, open innovation, and international collaboration. The willingness to collaborate is evident, shown by the participation of over 50 organizations from the Netherlands participating in NL-JP activities in Japan last year! Several partnerships already have begun.

Dutch programs for HTDX during World Expo – May 18^th to May 28^th 2025

During the World Expo event various Dutch trade and innovation missions will be organized focusing on high tech (HT) and digitalization (DX), further referred to as the HTDX track. The objective of these missions is to establish new contacts, showcase our expertise, build international partnerships, and strengthen bilateral relations with Japan. The aim is to achieve this through strategic collaborations and the formalization of an innovation pact. Concretely, this means that the Minister of Foreign Affairs will facilitate missions to Japan and a visit to the Expo.

An HTDX trade and innovation mission program is currently being designed consisting of multiple missions in the period of May 18th  to May 28th 2025. To cater to the diverse interests and expertise of the involved participants the mission has been divided in four groups:

1. HT-group: Chip Design
2. HT-group: Equipment
3. DX-group: Beyond 5G/6G
4. DX-group: AI/Data

The program for all will include several relevant visits to companies, universities and research institutes, matchmaking with counterparts, an event at the Netherlands pavilion, a high-level HTDX conference adjacent to the National Day, and time to explore the expo of the 150+ other participating countries and several international organizations. The national day of the Netherlands, the day that the Osaka Expo Committee has decided to focus on the Netherlands, will be also in the same period, on May 21st. Just like the previous expos, the aim is to invite many high-level visitors (government, companies, and institutes) from the Netherlands to the Expo on this day.

The timing of our HTDX program overlaps with the week in which the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition focuses on the topic The Future of Community and Mobility Week, that will attract key organizations in this field from all over the world. Therefore, this moment presents an excellent opportunity to network with relevant parties within the same network. Additionally, it offers an excellent opportunity to showcase Dutch expertise and innovations on a global stage, while also providing exposure to emerging trends and technologies.

The HTDX track acts as a crucial catalyst, not solely due to its inherent importance, but also for its role in enabling the achievement of objectives across other tracks.

Open invitation to participate

For the FNS program we see the World Expo in Osaka Japan and the trade and innovation mission as an excellent opportunity to discuss a collaborative partnership in the field of future 6G communication systems, networks and applications. In discussions leading up to and during the event we want to review opportunities to align the 6G research and development priorities around the following areas:

1. Establish collaborative research initiatives on 6G. Review opportunities in areas like:

• The evolution of Radio Access Networks (RAN), following 6G standardization orientations paving the way for future advancements towards AI-native radio access networks.
• Opportunities for leading applications in areas of Entertainment, Life Science, mobility, industry and logistics.
• The evolution of 6G Core and Cloud, following 6G standardization orientations, paving the way for AI-enabled core and cloud.

2. Exchange and integrate demonstrators to widen and fasten the research and innovation.

3. Align global standardization initiatives such as 3GPP which will be instrumental in developing 6G technologies that reflect a common vision for 6G. Particularly, in the domain of JCAS, Industrial IoT instrumental in achieving a society 5.0 and a competitive industry sector.
4. Highlight the value of open, secure, innovative and resilient networks and strengthen the cooperation on the development of such networks including virtualized ones which require (edge) cloud services alongside established architectures.

5. Explore opportunities to strengthen the supply chains for 6G-related components and equipment, promoting sustainability, diversity, and self-reliance in the production of next-generation wireless technologies.