The Cabinet is expected to approve Japan's bid to host the 2005 World Expo in Aichi Prefecture during a Cabinet meeting to be held today.
With Cabinet approval, the government will register the bid to the Paris-based Bureau of International Expositions as early as today and it hopes to be granted permission to go ahead with the Aichi expo at the BIE's general meeting to be held in December.
Last week, the Japan Association for the 2005 World Exposition adopted a plan to construct expo facilities on a 183-hectare site in Aichi Prefecture with a budget of 135 billion yen, after considerably scaling down an initial plan for environmental concerns.
The BIE is likely to dispatch a mission to Japan to inspect the proposed site before the organization makes a decision, according to an official of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry.