The worldwide Road to Milan Expo 2015 roadshow to promote the food-themed Universal Exposition touched down in Dubai this week.
After New York, Moscow and Paris, Loredana Sarti, secretary general of the Italian Exhibition and Trade Fair Association (AEFI) and Alberto Mina, director of international relations for the Italian pavilion at Milan Expo 2015, outlined at the Dubai event the opportunities offered by Italy's fair trade sector, and presented the Italian pavilion, which showcases different regional food industries.
The event, opened by the director of the Institute for Foreign Trade's Dubai office, Ferdinando Fiore, was attended by Italy's Ambassador to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Giorgio Starace, and Consul General, Giovanni Favilli.
Dubai will host the next World Expo trade convention in 2020, the first Middle Eastern city to hold the Universal Expo, which takes place every five years.
The Italian and UAE trade fair institutions signed a cooperation agreement last February, during a visit to the Gulf of then-premier Enrico Letta.
The first such accord provided for the participation of Dubai 2020 in Milan's Expo 2015, and outlined joint action by the two institutions, among other things, in the exchange of information and management practices. Last month, organizers for Milan Expo also launched an eight-city road show tour across China to promote next year's world's fair.
More than one out of the five million Expo tickets already bought have been sold in China, a country that will have three pavilions at the food-themed event.
One of China's three pavilions was presented Thursday in Turin.
The pavilion of top real estate business China Vanke will feature a forest with 1,200 bamboo trunks and 230 screens showing videos on Chinese food and lifestyle, based on a project by US architect Daniel Libeskind built by Italian firms Nussli Italia and Cws Multimedia for an investment of three million euros.
China's overall investment is reportedly worth 60 million euros with Milan Expo marking the first time the country takes part in a Universal Exposition outside of Asia.
The theme of Milan Expo 2015, which runs from May 1 to October 31 next year, is "Feeding the planet: Energy for Life", and deals with food security, fighting hunger, and promoting global food-production practices that are economically, environmentally and socially sustainable.
And a protocol designed to halve food waste worldwide by 2020 was presented to the European Parliament on Thursday, ahead of the Universal Exposition.
The so-called Milan Protocol sponsored by the Barilla Center for Food and Nutrition foundation promotes an awareness campaign aimed at slashing the estimated 1.3 billion tons of food wasted around the globe.
The final version of the Protocol is to be unveiled at a Forum on Food and Nutrition at Milan's Bocconi University on December 3-4.
The Expo is expected to attract more than 20 million visitors during its six-month run.
And visitors will be granted the unique opportunity of seeing over 2500 memorabilia and vintage pieces from the 1906 Milan World Fair, which will be on display at next year's expo, the Lombardy region said in a statement earlier this week.
Private collector Ampelio Vimercati has allowed Expo 2015 to showcase his collection of commemorative pieces from Expo 1906 including postcards, posters, tickets, medals and an original publication printed for the 1906 Fair - a unique insight into Italy's financial capital at the beginning of the last century.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
