Belgian ministers head to Japan for Expo 2025 and trade mission

In the upcoming days, three Belgian federal ministers will travel to Japan for diplomatic and economic missions tied to Belgium’s National Day at Expo 2025 in Osaka. Economy minister David Clarinval (MR), Foreign minister Maxime Prévot and Digitalisation minister Vanessa Matz (Les Engagés) will each participate in events promoting Belgium and attend meetings intended to strengthen bilateral relations.

Festivities on Sunday will feature Belgian artists Héléna, Mentissa, Mustii, Floris & The Flames and DJ Daddy K, alongside a choir of 100 Japanese children. Clarinval, the first to arrive, will stress Belgium’s role as an innovative and outward-looking partner. He will also visit Tsuneishi’s shipyard in Fukuyama to view hydrogen engine research and the construction of the emission-free tugboat “TEN-OH” H2ICE, developed with Compagnie Maritime Belge (CMB).

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In Tokyo, Clarinval will meet Agriculture minister Shinjiro Koizumi. Together with his colleagues, he will also hold talks with State minister Hayashi Yoshimasa, a senior figure in Japan’s outgoing government.

On Monday, Clarinval and Matz will also visit the Hiroshima Atomic Bomb Museum, where they will lay a wreath to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the tragedy.

The visit comes ahead of the 160th anniversary of Belgium-Japan diplomatic ties in 2026. Japan is Belgium’s third-largest trading partner in Asia and its second-biggest non-European investor. After Osaka, Clarinval and Prévot will continue to South Korea for further political and economic meetings. Despite resigning as mayor of Aalter and leaving CD&V, Pieter De Crem will also be present in Osaka in his capacity as Commissioner General of BelExpo.