TOKYO, Dec 11 (NNN-NHK) – The costs for operating the 2025 World Exposition in the western Japanese city of Osaka are now expected to exceed 100 billion yen (about 690.3 million U.S. dollars), local media reported, yesterday.
The updated figure was increased from the original estimate of 80.9 billion yen, reflecting rising prices, Jiji Press reported, citing sources with the Japan Association for the 2025 World Exposition.
Executives of the association, as the event’s organiser, will discuss the matter at a meeting on Thursday, according to the report.
The operating costs will be covered by admission ticket sales and sales at restaurants in the venue, among others.
Lower-than-anticipated ticket sales could result in a deficit, according to the Jiji report.
In Oct, the association raised the expected construction costs of the Osaka Expo to 235 billion yen, nearly 1.9 times the original estimate of 125 billion yen, citing surging material costs and labour shortage.
The construction costs are to be shared equally by the central government, the Osaka prefectural and city governments, and the business community, according to the association.
Themed “Designing Future Society for Our Lives,” the World Expo 2025 is scheduled to be held from Apr 13 to Oct 13, 2025, on the artificial island of Yumeshima in Osaka Bay. (1 Japanese yen equals 0.0069 U.S. dollars)– NNN-NHK
