Prime Minister Yoshiro Mori instructed Trade Minister Takeo Hiranuma on Tuesday to do his utmost so Japan can have its revised plan for the 2005 World Expo in Aichi Prefecture submitted to the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions in September.

Mori gave the order Tuesday afternoon when Hiranuma met with the prime minister to inform him that a decision to substantially scale down the earlier expo plan, which raised concerns over environmental damage at the proposed site, had been reached by a study panel of the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition.

According to the revised plan, proposed by the expo organizers and approved by the panel, the expo site to be built in Kaisho no Mori, a wooded region in the southern part of the city of Seto. The size of the expo site will be reduced from the original 47.2 hectares to 10.35 hectares.

Expo organizers initially planned to construct buildings over 37.7 of the 47.2 hectares in the northern and southern areas of Kaisho no Mori but gave up plans to build on the northern half.

In addition, they decided to reduce the area to be developed in the southern part of Kaisho no Mori, which boasts a precious ecosystem, to about 0.65 hectare, they said.

The decision by the panel, which is composed of local environmental groups and experts, is expected to pave the way for expo organizers to register Japan's bid to host the expo with the BIE by early September in the hopes of winning approval for the event during a BIE general meeting in December.

Japan had initially planned to register the bid in May but decided to delay the move when the BIE asked Japan to revise its plan due to environmental concerns. Local residents and environmentalist groups also protested a project that will develop the Seto forest as a site for the expo and then for a large housing complex after the event.

In April, the Ministry of International Trade and Industry, Aichi Prefecture and the expo association jointly announced they will give up the plan to use the site for a future housing complex.

In May, the study panel -- consisting of representatives of local residents and environmental groups as well as professors and experts -- was formed to review the overall expo plan.

The decision reached Monday evening would scale down the development of Kaisho no Mori to nearly one-fifth of the earlier plan. Further details will be mapped out next month.

Speaking to reporters, Hiranuma said he told Mori that his ministry will work together with the Aichi Prefectural Government and the expo association to have the revised plan approved by a Cabinet meeting and submitted to the BIE by September.

"With 'harmony with nature' being the main theme of the expo, we reached an agreement with the parties concerned," Hiranuma told a news conference earlier Tuesday. "Aichi will now give birth to a new type of expo that does not entail conventional large-scale public works projects."

It is very rare for a major public works plan in Japan like the expo project to undergo substantial revision to accommodate opinions of environmentalists.

Speaking to reporters in the morning, Mori said the government appreciates the decision reached by the panel. However, Mori indicated he doubts whether all major public works projects should be similarly reviewed out of environmental concern.