Juri Ratas, chairman of the Center Party and a member of the working group, described the news about the EXPO in Japan as a bad signal for our entrepreneurs and relations with Japan.
The chairman of the Riigikogu foreign affairs committee, Reform Party MP Marko Mihkelson, called the situation regrettable because Estonia is currently the only EU member state not to participate in the 2025 EXPO.
"The foreign affairs committee of the Riigikogu discussed this in two sessions in May and by consensus proposed to the government to consider participation. We now know that the government decided not to participate," Mihkelson told Postimees.
He noted that Japan is a strategically important partner country for Estonia, and as a member of the G7, it influences global security and economic policy decisions. Our goal should be to use all opportunities to deepen bilateral relations with Japan.
"Participating in an international event of importance to Japan, which EXPO definitely is, would have undoubtedly been a remarkable step in this context. Estonia will never be so big or well-known that we can have the luxury of skipping the chance of presenting ourselves to the world, including through the EXPO, and it is especially important to do so in today's turbulent world. The Nordic countries will have a joint pavilion in Osaka, as do Latvia and Lithuania. Estonia could still have had the opportunity to collaborate in the Baltic format. And our companies have been interested in participating in the Osaka EXPO," the MP said.