関空の国際線エリア拡大へ　万博関連でインフラ計画策定―政府

　政府は２７日、国際博覧会推進本部（本部長・菅義偉首相）を首相官邸で開き、２０２５年の大阪・関西万博に関連して行うインフラの整備計画を決定した。関西空港の国際線エリアを拡大するほか、ＪＲ新大阪駅や大阪駅と万博会場をつなぐシャトルバスのルートを整備。事業費の一部は、２２年度の予算概算要求に反映させる。
　菅首相は会合であいさつし、「大阪・関西全体の成長基盤にもなるよう、必要な予算措置を含め、計画の実現に取り組んでいく」と述べた。（2021/08/27-10:45）

The Japanese government decided Friday to expand Kansai International Airport's departure zone for international flight passengers in the run-up to the 2025 World Exposition in the western Japan city of Osaka.
   The floor space of the zone will be enlarged 60 pct so that the airport on an artificial island in Osaka Prefecture will be able to accommodate some 40 million passengers annually, according to a set of infrastructure projects related to the World Expo, decided at a meeting of the government's task force for the event.
   "We'll work and take necessary budgetary and other measures to realize the projects, aiming to make the infrastructure also serve as a platform for the growth of Osaka and the entire Kansai western Japan region," Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who chairs the task force, said at the meeting.
   The package also includes the establishment of a more convenient route for shuttle bus services connecting Shin-Osaka and Osaka stations of West Japan Railway Co. , or JR West, and the World Expo venue on the manmade island of Yumeshima. The new route will cut the time for a one-way trip between Shin-Osaka and the event venue to 19 minutes from the current 35 minutes.
   The government plans to earmark part of the funds for the projects under its budget for fiscal 2022 from next April.