2025 Osaka World Expo: Hungary’s pavilion revealed, direct flight in the works

The Hungarian pavilion’s architectural design and creative concept at the 2025 World Expo in Osaka were presented in Budapest on Monday.

2025 Osaka World Expo: Hungary

National Economy Minister Márton Nagy said Hungary’s participation at the expo would benefit the economy. He pointed to the event’s impact on tourism and culture, noting that tourism accounted for close to 13pc of Hungary’s GDP last year.

Showcasing Hungary in Asia is also important in light of the growing number of visitors from the region, he said, adding that tourism turnover generated by visitors from China had doubled last year, while rising 8pc for visitors from South Korea and 44pc for visitors from Japan. Expo 2025 is expected to draw 25 million visitors from 160 countries.

Dávid Drozsnyik, the creative director for the pavilion, said Hungary’s showcase at the expo advocated the preservation of cultural heritage and the passing on of traditions along with their contributions to a sustainable society. Gábor Zoboki, the pavilion’s architect, said the inspiration for the project came from the vernacular architecture of both Japan and Hungary.

The pavilion has an area for business talks, as well as reception and exhibition space, a restaurant, and a wine bar.

Japan as a trade partner

Japan comes to mind because of Suzuki, because there are indeed many automotive companies there, but the investment incentive programme is not only aimed at the automotive industry, he said. By 2030, the inflow of working capital could double, 70 percent of which is now linked to China. Currently, 181 Japanese-owned companies are already operating here, providing livelihoods for 27,000 Hungarian families, vg.hu reported.

Japan and Hungary have had diplomatic relations for 156 years, and this is not the first time that Hungary has participated in an Osaka World Expo. The Dubai World Expo was also a great success, and it would be good to surpass even that, which is a possibility.

Direct flights are another sign of the business and tourism interest in Hungary.
From China, it is double, and 8 percent more from South Korea. Even without direct flights, 44 percent more people from Japan will arrive in Budapest in 2024. Minister Nagy said that

there is no direct flight to Japan from Budapest yet, but we are working on it.

Gastronomy, wine

Quality gastronomy, tradition, and uniqueness in food and wine are the hallmarks of a Japanese gastro-tourist’s destination.

They would like to lure Japanese guests to the Hungarian pavilion, Miska Wine Bar, and present traditional Hungarian food and drinks in a worthy serving environment.

Tokaj will be the calling word for wine, and we are very proud of the fröccs, the fruit syrups, which they want to introduce to many people. The Hungarian pavilion menu will also include duck liver, goulash soup, paprika potatoes, cottage cheese dumplings, and somlói dumplings.

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