Gearing up for Milan

The World Expo is packing up and heading to Europe, where it will touch down in Milan in 2015 with a new focus on food safety, Yu Ran reports.

As the Expo 2010 Shanghai draws to a spectacular conclusion, the Italy Pavilion is getting ready to receive the World Exposition baton and embark on its journey towards Expo 2015 Milan based on the theme of "Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life."

"Expo 2010 Shanghai has been an extraordinary celebration of global business and culture, and it has set the bar high for future World Expositions," said Roberto Formigoni, president of the Italian region of Lombardy, which has Milan as its capital. "It has also provided a fantastic model for Milan in terms of managing and organizing events of this scale. We are excited for 2015, and we have high expectations for what it will achieve."

The Milan Expo will be located on a 1.7-million-square-meter site in the northwest of the city that includes parts of the municipal territories of Pero and Rho, according to Formigoni's master plan.

The next Expo Garden will come in the form of a large island surrounded by canals, where pavilions will be divided into six main exhibition areas. There will also be an amphitheater, 12 catering service areas and a botanical garden, featuring a greenhouse with plants from all of the participating countries.

"We're planning to create a model for a future urban city in the botanical garden and have plants growing there during the Expo period from all over the world," said Formigoni.

Expo 2015 Milan will offer a great communication and promotion platform for primary-producing communities, farmers, food firms, catering companies and other companies seeking to make the most of innovative technologies in the food industry, he said.

"The process will be inspired by traditional Italian food. It will evoke the flavors and colors of our land and our food, which is homely, genuine, but also rich and beautiful," said Formigoni.

In Lombardy's countryside, innovation and tradition merge through new practices in the farming industry. This has propelled the region to the forefront of agricultural production in Europe.

Official statistics by Lombardy officials show that 60,000 farms in the region employ innovative technologies to cultivate a variety of crops, while about 8,000 agro-food companies produce and export their products all over the world.

"We will examine tradition, creativity and innovation in the business of food in the same manner that the Expo 2010 Shanghai explored urban and city life," said Formigoni.

Each nation will have a distinct space where they can show their agriculture, technology, food research, and areas of excellence in the food production chain, as well as paradigms and contradictions inherent to the sphere of food.

Six months of concerts, exhibitions and cultural events will bring tourists closer to Milan and its landmarks, such as La Scala Theater, La Triennale Museum and the canals of its Navigli district.

Part of the theme - "Feeding the Planet" - indicates that, beyond the hedonistic aspect of consuming good food, lies the important aspect of food safety. This includes the need for quality certification.

Italy wants to continue using sustainability as the keyword for Expo 2015, according to Beniamino Quintieri, commissioner general of the Italy Pavilion.

"There is a common thread that runs between Expo 2010 and Expo 2015, uniting in a single, grand sense the dialogue between peoples: finding for all of humanity a path that is sustainable and environmentally friendly," he said.

Over 50 countries have already approached Milan about joining the Expo, but official agreements cannot be signed before Nov 23.

"The construction of the Expo Garden will begin late next year. We're expecting to seal agreements with 150 countries for Expo 2015 Milan and receive 20 million visitors," said Formigoni.

Most of the participants will be keen to show off their national cuisine.

"We've never missed a single Expo, and we don't plan on missing the Milan Expo. Our delicious Indian cuisine will offer tourists a delightful trip by bringing them closer to normal Indian daily life," said D K Nangia, director of the India Pavilion.

Turkey, like Italy a mediterranean country, has confirmed its support, but South Korea, which will host a smaller Expo in 2012 in Yeosu, has not committed. Germany will be there, however, and is looking forward to showcasing its "high technology and innovative ideas", said German press officer Marion Conrady.

Spain's Aritz Parra, who has visited World Expos in both Seville and Shanghai, said the host country benefits in terms of promoting its global image and creating new business opportunities.

"I think the 1992 Expo in Sevilla was similar to Expo 2010 Shanghai in many ways. Both cities were relatively unknown to the rest of the world, but the Expo boosted their connections and networks by raising their global image," said Parra, who works at the Spain Pavilion.

(China Daily 10/29/2010)