President Rumen Radev Will Pay an Official Visit to Japan

 

From May 18 to 21, President Rumen Radev will be on an official visit to Japan. At the invitation of the Japanese side, the head of state will visit the EXPO 2025 World Exhibition in Osaka on Bulgaria Day and will hold meetings at the highest level in Tokyo, as well as with representatives of Japanese business. The delegation, led by the president, will include representatives of Bulgarian companies and organisations with activities in the field of industry, high technologies, science, innovations and the automotive sector. The president will be accompanied by his wife Desislava Radeva.

 

In Osaka, the head of state will participate in the official ceremony on Bulgaria Day within the framework of the EXPO 2025 world exhibition. In it, 165 countries and regions and 9 international organisations present their cultures, ideas and innovations in about 180 pavilions set aside for the purpose. The central theme of this edition of the international event is "Designing the Future Society for Our Lives", and interactive expositions, demonstrations of cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence and robotics, presentation of sustainable and innovative solutions in the fields of architecture, energy and healthcare, exhibitions for smart cities and more are planned. The forum was opened in April and will last until October this year, and is expected to be visited by nearly 30 million people.

 

The President will visit the Bulgarian Pavilion at EXPO 2025, where our country is represented through its rich cultural and historical heritage, innovations and vision for the future. The pavilion, whose motto is "Evolution with Nature", reveals the scientific, economic and tourist potential of Bulgaria.

 

In Tokyo, President Rumen Radev will have an audience with His Majesty Emperor Naruhito at the Imperial Palace in the Japanese capital. The Bulgarian head of state visited Japan in 2019 for the emperor's enthronement ceremony.

 

In the capital of Japan, President Rumen Radev will meet with the country's Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, with whom he will sign a Declaration on Elevating Bilateral Relations between Bulgaria and Japan to the Level of Strategic Partnership. At the Prime Minister's Residence, the Bulgarian President will be welcomed with a solemn ceremony with military honours, after which a meeting between the two delegations and a joint press conference will be held.

 

The President's program for the visit to Japan includes participation in an economic seminar organised by the Bulgarian Embassy in the country and the Japan External Trade Organization JETRO, meetings with the management of JETRO, the Japanese technology company Toshiba , the Japanese Business Federation Keidanren , and the Sumitomo Mitsui Bank. As part of his visit, the head of state will also visit the Japanese air base "Hyakuri" and the research centre of the largest scientific organisation in Japan "RIKEN".

 

During his visit, the head of state will deliver a lecture on bilateral relations between Bulgaria and Japan at Waseda University. Founded in 1882, the university is one of the oldest and most prestigious in Japan and has a cooperation agreement with Sofia University "St Kliment Ohridski". About 50 thousand students study at Waseda University and seven Japanese prime ministers have graduated from it. President Rumen Radev will hold a meeting with the rector of the university, Prof Eiji Tanaka, and together with Princess Takamado , a member of the imperial family, will view the exhibition "Bulgaria-Japan - politics, diplomacy, personalities and events", which presents the history of Bulgarian-Japanese relations from the end of the 19th century to the present day. The authors are Vera Stefanova, a Japanese scholar and long-time diplomat, and Assoc. Prof Evgeniy Kandilarov, a lecturer at Sofia University "St. Kliment Ohridski".