Years of planning and
preparations come to fruition Friday as Milan Expo 2015
officially opens for what organizers hope will be six months of
celebrations of Italian culture and global mindfulness.
A televised ceremony midday from Milan's Open Air Theatre
will include Premier Matteo Renzi, who is slated to give a brief
speech, along with Expo Commissioner Giuseppe Sala.
The Italian Air Force's Frecce Tricolori aerobatic team
will then perform a fly-past with music provided by the band of
the Carabinieri police corps.
Renzi is expected to later visit the Nepal pavilion, to
honour its host country which last Saturday was struck by a
devastating earthquake that has taken the lives of at least
5,500 people.
Indeed, global issues are top of the agenda for Milan Expo
2015, which focuses on food, nutrition and fighting hunger with
the theme Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.
It is expected to draw over 20 million visitors overall,
and more than 140 countries have signed on to participate in the
world's fair which includes 54 pavilions.
Protesters opposed to Expo have been making their presence
known, but authorities have maintained the event will not be
affected.
Festivities for the opening of Expo will end in the evening
with the premiere of Puccini's Turandot at the La Scala opera
house as well as a concert in Piazza Duomo by Andrea Bocelli.
A wide range of activities are also planned on the
sidelines of Expo, including a festival with Hollywood stars
marking the 40th anniversary of Milan fashion house Armani,
founded by Giorgio Armani.
At that event, Renzi said that Expo could be the "spark"
that will help to restart Italy.
Some nine million Italians have already decided to visit
Milan Expo 2015, says Italian hoteliers federation
Federalberghi.
"These figures highlight the importance of events of this
scale for our country," said Federalberghi President Bernabò
Bocca.
But as well as the boost to the Italian economy, a Milan
Charter on food security will be a guiding "act of commitment",
for the event, Agriculture Minister Maurizio Martina said this
week.
The Charter will be developed over the six months of Expo
before being presented to United Nations Secretary-General Ban
Ki-moon.
"(Expo's theme) Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life is an
important title and the global food challenge, with its
contradictions and paradoxes, is the mother of all the crucial
geopolitical questions of our time," Martina said.
"It is a challenge concerning equity, justice and
sovereignty, as recent events in the Mediterranean and in Africa
have once again dramatically shown," Martina said.
The grounds for the charter are "as ambitious as they are
urgent", according to the minister.
"The right to food must be considered a fundamental human
right and widespread mobilisation is required to guarantee equal
access to food for all," he concluded.
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