Greater Manchester Japan Mission 2025: day four
Thursday 19 June in Japan meant all eyes were on Greater Manchester as we brought Manchester Day to the UK Pavilion at EXPO 2025.
EXPO brings together people and innovation from across the world to help solve global issues; it’s a place where new technologies and products are born. Over 8 million visitors are expected to attend across the six months that EXPO 2025 is open, making this a unique and proud moment for our friends in Osaka.
The theme for this year’s EXPO is ‘Designing Future Society for Our Lives’ and the Manchester delegation aimed to demonstrate how we can be at the forefront of this by showcasing the region’s innovation, research, and cultural strengths alongside our commitment to collaborations that will drive a better future.
By partnering with the Department for Business and Trade and the UK, today was all about engaging with political leaders, trade officials, and Japanese businesses – putting Greater Manchester centre-stage at the biggest international event of the decade.
Manchester Day VIP business event
In the morning, we hosted the Manchester Day VIP Business Event on the UK Pavilion at EXPO. This event invited business leaders in Osaka and Japan to learn more about opportunities across Greater Manchester in both business and innovation. The room was full of innovative leaders ready to learn more about fostering partnerships between the two regions.
The scene was set for a productive day with speeches from Jo Ahmed MBE, Honorary Consul of Japan in Manchester, British Ambassador to Japan, Julia Longbottom, Mayor Andy Burnham, Mr Yoshimura Hirofumi, Governor of Osaka Prefecture, and Mr Takahashi Toru, Vice Mayor of Osaka City.
Ambassador Longbottom said: “Today is about partnership and few partnerships are as dynamic and promising as the one between these two great cities. There is a long, great history between Manchester and Osaka. It is a testament to our enduring ties that this relationship has continued to evolve. As we celebrate these ties we also look to the future with a confidence, ambition, and a deep respect for what we can achieve together.”
Mayor Burnham added: “What Manchester and Osaka have in common is rooted in our history as two cities that have never turned away from the future. History is being repeated here, and in some ways in reverse; Japanese technology is now being trialled in Greater Manchester to build another great future in the 21st century.”
Mr Yoshimura Hirofumi added: “Through the connection of each individual, we have a great bond between our cities. Yesterday we signed an MOA to work to become sister cities and the Osaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (OCCI) and MIDAS signed an agreement as well. Through these steps we are deepening the connections between people and businesses in Manchester and Osaka.”
Building a net zero future
The first panel focused on net zero and Greater Manchester’s low-carbon ambitions, moderated by Jo Ahmed MBE. It featured Mark Atherton, Director of Environment at GMCA, Mitsutoshi Shigeta, Managing Executive Officer at Panasonic Corporation, Rachel McCrystal, Greater Manchester Partnerships Manager at Daikin UK, and Ben Grunfeld, Strategy and Growth Director at Electricity North West.
The panel discussed Greater Manchester’s ambition to become net zero by 2038 and the steps the city-region has taken to make this a reality including the landmark partnerships with Daikin and Panasonic HX. These partnerships are helping us to accelerate green tech take up and support and enable our citizens to make the right decisions to adopt net zero.
Partnership is also helping to create new jobs and skills as Rachel McCrystal explained: “Greater Manchester is an innovation hub for low carbon innovation combining skills, deployment, and innovation assets. Daikin is decarbonising homes and buildings in the city-region and opening a new skills centre in Trafford Park to triple the number of people skilled in their technology. We are using Greater Manchester as a test bed for innovation, to deploy it and take that learning to other regions across the UK.”
They also discussed how creating a living innovation bridge between Greater Manchester and Japan can further these opportunities for collaboration and drive forward our low-carbon goals.
A powerhouse of innovation
Leader of Manchester City Council, Cllr Bev Craig then gave an overview of Greater Manchester as a hub of innovation, discussing the region’s diverse sector strengths, world-class knowledge sector and how the region is working to build an innovation ecosystem.
Cllr Craig said: “Greater Manchester has an exciting future. We’re consistently the fastest growing economy in the United Kingdom and more business are created here than in any other city-region in the UK. In greater Manchester we’re open for business, welcoming to businesses, and support businesses; because when business does well, the entire city-region does well.”
Joe Manning, Managing Director at MIDAS, Manchester’s inward investment agency then introduced a video by the University of Manchester, explaining Greater Manchester’s business sector strengths, before moderating the next panel.
The second panel then turned attention to Manchester’s Global Impact in Materials and Technologies: 2D materials, BioTech, AI & Robotics.
The panel brought together; Ueno Hiroaki, Chairperson, Life Science Business Promotion Committee, Osaka Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Professor Vladimir Falko, Director of National Graphene Institute, University of Manchester, Dr Clara Cheung, Head of Internationalisation for ASEAN, Japan, and Korea, Faculty of Science and Engineering, The University of Manchester and Dr Nicky Savjani, Application Manager for Energy at the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC).
The panel discussed how Greater Manchester’s research strengths and emerging sectors can support global innovation and fuel a new era of growth. By combining academic excellence with industry, Greater Manchester is reaffirming its status as an innovation powerhouse.
Dr Clara Cheug said: “The role of our universities is to make a difference in the world through innovation, research, and social responsibility – not only striving to advance knowledge, but working directly to see how they can benefit people, community and planet. Innovation does not happen in isolation – to solve global challenges we need international collaboration like our MOU with the University of Osaka that has launched five different projects to bring researchers together and solve global challenges.”
Dr Nicky Savjani provided an overview of the Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC) and graphene innovation, explaining that Graphene at Manchester is an ecosystem that brings together 500 companies across the world that want to explore innovations in materials. Whilst Professor Vladimir Falko outlined examples of graphene innovations and next steps for the material.
Mr Ueno Hiroaki commented on yesterday’s partnership signed between OCCI and MIDAS and explained his hopes that by working with Manchester he can support startups in Osaka and Manchester to grow, especially with academic backing.
All outlined their ambitions for future collaboration following the MOA signings on this week’s mission.
Closing remarks from the morning
Mayor Burnham said: “If you think of the Manchester of the past you’ll think of smoke and chimneys. The city is now reborn, and a conscious decision was made to make a knowledge focused, innovation driven economy. We are at an exciting moment.
“I believe in setting 2038 as our goal for achieving net zero, I am being true to the DNA of Greater Manchester. The city-region was originally forged during the Industrial Revolution, in the era of building the future and driving it forward quickly. Now, by choosing an ambitious date to achieve net zero, we have been able to drive investment into Greater Manchester, knowing that everyone will need those technologies going forward.
“I leave this session this morning with real clarity on the areas we can all collaborate further.”
Mike Blyth, British Consul General Osaka then joined the stage to talk about the UK Government’s new Industrial Strategy and how the relationship between Manchester and Osaka supports it.
He said: “Government can have the high-level ambition, but it is the regions that will deliver it. We have heard about the ambition and innovation that Greater Manchester has, and that’s what’s going to make growth happen. The relations with Osaka will ultimately support with that and are to be celebrated.”
Manchester City Football Club activivation
Following a busy morning at the business event, members of the delegation took a break to explore EXPO and further engage with Japanese media.
Throughout the day, Manchester City Football Club have been providing engagement outside the UK Pavilion, with some of the Club’s coaches teaching young people new skills, whilst one of their mascots, Moonchester, posed for pictures with fans. Mayor Andy Burnham even took a few minutes out for a kick about between meetings.
BLOOM reception
As evening approached, it was time for our reception on the UK Pavilion. This special reception celebrated the ties and friendship with Osaka, with the guest of honour, Mayor Yokoyama and several senior officers from Osaka City Government in attendance.
The highlight of this reception was the premiere of BLOOM, Manchester’s gift to Osaka in the form of cultural exchange. Turning the spotlight to Greater Manchester’s cultural strengths, BLOOM is a performance that was promised during the 2023 Greater Manchester mission to Japan and celebrates the unique relationship between our two places.
Informed by the past, inspired by the future; BLOOM has been brought together by creative producers From The Other and includes boundary-pushing artists for this performance to show reinvention, creative risk, and the power of collaboration. Composer and DJ, AFRODEUTSCHE, dance collective, Company Chameleon, and queer-led fashion brand, Belladonis are the creators of this piece, working with a trio from the world-renowned Hallé orchestra.
As the only UK city-region that has put together such a gift for Osaka, BLOOM is a symbol of Greater Manchester’s commitment to Osaka and marks a new era of friendship and exchange. It will have its first public performance tomorrow (Friday 20 June) on the Osaka Pavilion.
Thanks to our sponsors Deloitte, Electricity North West, Panasonic, and Daikin for helping to make BLOOM a reality.
Greater Manchester residents will be able to see performances of BLOOM when Manchester hosts the prestigious Japan Week in September – it is a truly unmissable piece of work.