The Serbian “Floating Forest” Pavilion, which was visited by more than one million people during Expo 2025 Osaka, has won yet another award today - the Silver Medal for Theme Development in the category of self-built pavilions up to 1,500 m².
The official award ceremony across various categories took place on the penultimate day of the World Exhibition Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai, as part of the celebration of Bureau International des Expositions (BIE) Day.
“We are concluding the World Expo in Osaka with another award for the Pavilion of the Republic of Serbia. Today, at the official BIE ceremony, we received the Silver Medal for Theme Development in the category of pavilions up to 1,500 square metres - the category with the highest number of participants,” said Žarko Malinović, Deputy Commissioner General of the Serbian Pavilion, noting that Serbia outperformed countries such as Switzerland, the Netherlands, Austria, the European Union Pavilion, and many others.
Malinović emphasised that this represented Serbia’s greatest success at an Expo since Paris 1900, expressing gratitude to the entire team and everyone who contributed to achieving such remarkable results for the Serbian Pavilion after six months of exhibition.
“By 10 October, the Serbian Pavilion had welcomed one million visitors, and as of today, more than 1,050,000 people have seen what Serbia has to offer to the world, and why it is important to come to Belgrade and be part of Expo 2027,” Malinović underlined.
In addition to BIE officials, the BIE Day celebration was attended by the representatives of the host country, Japan, as well as numerous international participants, including the delegation of Serbia, the host of the next Specialised Exhibition, Expo 2027 Belgrade.
The central BIE Day Ceremony, held at the “Shining Heart” Expo Hall, was marked by a flag-raising ceremony, the national anthems of Japan and BIE, and artistic performances that symbolically connected the future Expo hosts, highlighting Serbia’s role as the next host of the Specialised Exhibition.
On this occasion, BIE Secretary General Dimitri Kerkentzes emphasised the importance of unity and continuity among Expos:
“Here on Yumeshima, more than 150 countries have showcased the best of themselves in inspiring pavilions, creating new connections and strengthening existing relations. In times of global challenges, Expo 2025 Osaka Kansai has demonstrated the power of cooperation and creativity. Following Osaka, we look forward to Specialised Expo 2027 in Belgrade, the Horticultural Expo 2027 in Yokohama, and the World Expo 2030 in Riyadh,” said Kerkentzes.
