A senior official of the International Bureau of Expositions (BIE) said Wednesday he welcomes a plan by organizers of the 2005 World Exposition in Aichi Prefecture to drastically shrink the size of one of two planned exhibition sites.
Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, secretary general of the Paris-based organization, said he was pleased that Expo organizers addressed his concerns over possible environmental damage at the main site, Kaisho no Mori, a forest in the southern part of Seto.
Loscertales made the remark during a meeting with Ikuko Tanioka, representative of a study panel of the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition.
He also told Tanioka, president of Chukyo Women's University, that he plans to visit the site in mid-November.
Tanioka went to Paris to brief Loscertales on the revised Expo plan, which entails reducing the size of the Kaisho no Mori site from the originally planned 47.2 hectares to 10.35 hectares.
Tanioka said the secretary general told her he hopes to see organizers cooperate with nongovernmental organizations and other parties in the running of the Aichi Expo to ensure the event incorporates the views of citizens.
"I believe I was able to put the Aichi Expo, which was about to derail, back on track," she said.
Tanioka also said she plans to inspect the World Exposition currently under way in Hanover, Germany, after leaving Paris.
Based on the revised plan, the organizers plan to register Japan's bid to host the next Expo with the BIE by early September.
Japan had initially planned to register the bid in May, but later decided to delay the move when the BIE asked that the plan be revised due to environmental concerns.