Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to make a success of the World Exposition to be held in Osaka for six months from mid-April.

At a meeting with Dimitri Kerkentzes, visiting secretary-general of the Paris-based Bureau International des Expositions (BIE), at the prime minister's office in Tokyo on Friday, Ishiba said: "We absolutely want the expo to be a success. We will do our best to communicate (the attractions of) not only Osaka but also Japan as a whole to the world."

The meeting was held behind closed doors except for the opening part.