The Milan Expo 2015 world's fair
will attract 20 million visitors overall, and could even exceed
that number, Expo Commissioner Giuseppe Sala has said.
''It's been an extraordinary year for our city and our
country'', Sala said Thursday, addressing the 100th roundtable
event at the food-themed Universal Exposition, sponsored by the
Milan Chamber of commerce.
Organizers have said that 13-14 million out of the 20
million are Italian, meaning that one Italian in four will have
visited the six-month world's fair when it wraps up on October
31.
Sala also said that the event created ''something magical''
because it ''made us understand how this barrier - public and
private - has to be torn down because clearly the government
can't do something like this on its own''.
He added that success ''comes from a combination of single
contributions'', discussing post-Expo management.
Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina said this week that
it is ''crucial'' for the government to be part of the
enterprise that will oversee the development of the large area
where Expo is currently taking place after it ends.
To date, discussion has focused on turning the area into a
university campus for innovation and research, with a specific
focus on the farm and food sector in keeping with the theme of
Expo, 'Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life'.
Meanwhile on Thursday Expo President Diana Bracco noted
that ''even cold numbers say we hit the target,'' with the
influx of tourists and spending by foreign visitors testifying
''to the beneficial effect'' of the world's fair.
Overall, some 58 heads of state and of government have
visited Expo since its opening in May, general manager of
participants division Stefano Gatti said this week.
The number will have reportedly topped 60 by the end of
this month.
Some 300 institutional visits have taken place at the
Universal Exposition, with a number of visitors returning a
second time, including Letizia Ortiz Rocasolano, Queen of Spain,
who will be back on October 16.
She first visited in July.
Queen Letizia is a UN Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO) special ambassador for nutrition.
And on Friday Expo visitors will be celebrating World Egg
Day with exhibits, displays, games and entertainment to be held
in front of the 'No Farmers No Party' pavilion of farmers'
association Coldiretti.
Coldiretti is promoting the initiative with Assoavi, which
represents the Italian egg production chain.
World Egg Day was introduced at the 1996 International Egg
Conference in Vienna and is celebrated on the second Friday of
October each year with worldwide events.
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