News

With a six-month program of activity, a wide variety of South Australian companies have had the opportunity to travel to Osaka, to make new connections and display their products to the more than one million people who have already visited the Australia Pavilion.

Each week of the World Expo features a different theme, giving businesses the chance to grow opportunities within their sectors, meet other businesses and showcase their products and services to the world.

The recently released South Australia Trade and Investment Strategy to 2030 – a blueprint for increasing our exports and attracting more investment into the state – sets seven key pillars for trade and investment promotion.

The Targeted Business Missions pillar promotes South Australian presence at major international industry events to convey a compelling value proposition to investors and importers, while the Inclusive Trade and Investment Growth pillar details programs and initiatives aimed at driving First Nations business growth, both domestically and internationally.

Progress was made on both of these pillars with South Australian businesses recently travelling to World Expo in Osaka for themed weeks.

South Australia’s games industry was on display during ‘Learning and Playing Week’, with games studios Ortum Games and Jonniemadeit showcasing their innovative games and networking with global games representatives from around the world.

Japan is the third largest market for video games worldwide, with an estimated 75 million consumers spending US$16.3 billion on video games in 2024 alone. As a leader in game production investment, South Australia is in prime position to take advantage of this market.

Students and staff from Adelaide Botanic High School also had the opportunity to travel to Japan for ‘Learning and Playing Week’ to demonstrate South Australia’s artificial intelligence education tool, EdChat.

A partnership between the South Australian Department for Education and Microsoft, EdChat empowers students to use AI to support their studies while safeguarding them from accessing information that may put them at risk.

The visit was also an opportunity to promote South Australia as an innovative and engaging destination for international students, and included visits to schools in Tokyo, Okayama and Kyoto that are taking part in study abroad programs in SA schools.

As part of ‘Te Aratini Indigenous Peoples’ Week, the Department of State Development supported three First Nations companies to participate in World Expo and explore export and investment opportunities in the Japanese market.

Seven Seasons, Munda Wines and Diramu Skincare took part in business matching events, product pitches and cultural programming, while showcasing First Nations business capabilities to buyers and importers.

Some of the state’s leading renewable energy industry partners will showcase our world-leading credentials at World Expo’s Future of Earth and Biodiversity Week.

The South Australian Government will host the ‘Decarbonisation and Clean Tech Forum’, which aims to promote the state’s investment-ready projects in renewables, hydrogen, green steel and critical minerals, highlighting Asia-Pacific trade and supply chain integration opportunities.