Reem Al Hashimy’s delegation takes Dubai’s Expo legacy to Osaka Expo 2025

Dubai: Reem Al Hashimy, UAE Minister of State for International Cooperation and CEO of Expo City Dubai Authority, led a delegation from Expo City Dubai on a visit to Expo 2025 Osaka, aimed at building on the success of the initiatives and programmes launched at Expo 2020 Dubai.

The two-day trip included a visit to the UAE Pavilion, where Al Hashimy met volunteers and the pavilion team. She also held meetings with representatives of the Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), the governing body of World Expos.

Under the theme ‘Earth to Ether’, the UAE Pavilion offers an immersive multisensory journey that highlights the UAE’s achievements in space exploration, sustainable innovation and human-centred healthcare. The pavilion has proven popular among visitors, welcoming more than 250,000 guests in the first two weeks of the Expo alone.

“As the UAE Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka invites visitors on a journey from ‘Earth to Ether,’ it echoes the spirit of Expo 2020 Dubai, celebrating our nation’s incredible transformation and highlighting our bold vision for collective progress,” said Al Hashimy. “It was an honour to meet the pavilion team, volunteers and visitors, and I congratulate everyone involved in this grand spectacle of hope and ingenuity.”

Al Hashimy also delivered a keynote address at the inauguration of the Expo 2025 Women’s Pavilion — an inspiring opening ceremony that drew from, and built upon, the legacy of the Women’s Pavilion at Expo 2020.

The Osaka Women’s Pavilion, in collaboration with Cartier, honours the past by retaining the manifesto of ‘when women thrive, humanity thrives’ from Expo 2020 and reuses the façade from the Japan Pavilion in Dubai. The pavilion explores critical intersections of planet, business and technology, education and policy, as well as arts and culture.

“At Expo 2020 Dubai, the creation of the Women’s Pavilion was a defining moment — a statement of intent, declaring that women’s contributions are a vital force shaping humanity’s path forward and a platform for all to be a part of that journey,” said Al Hashimy.

“Here in Japan, we see a bold evolution of what began in Dubai, embodying both continuity and innovation. The Women’s Pavilion in Osaka continues the purposeful collaboration to ensure the legacy of Expo 2020 lives on, and that new global commitments and coalitions will endure well into the future.”

Expo 2020 Dubai was the first World Expo since the early 1900s to feature a standalone pavilion dedicated to women and the integral role they play in society. Reflecting the importance placed on gender equality and women’s empowerment, its legacy site, Expo City Dubai, has retained the Women’s Pavilion, which continues to serve as a hub for dialogue, innovation and collaboration.