150,000 people at the Italian Pavilion at Expo Prado in Uruguay

(ANSA) - ROMA, 17 SET - Historic record attendance for the Italian Pavilion at Expo Prado, Uruguay's most important trade fair, organised by the Italian Embassy and the Uruguay-Italy Chamber of Commerce with the collaboration of ICE. The event closed with the visit of the Uruguayan Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs, Nicolas Albertoni, preceded by that of the Minister of Agriculture Fernando Mattos. "Thanks to its institutional visibility and exceptional capacity to attract the public, the Italian Pavilion at the Expo Prado," said the Ambassador of Italy in Montevideo, Fabrizio Petri, "confirms itself as a formidable tool for the promotion of Italy, with a view to accompanying Italian companies and products in the Uruguayan market, with which trade exchanges are constantly growing.
    The fifth consecutive edition of Italy's participation in the fair set an attendance record, with 144,804 visitors over the 10 days of the exhibition. With the evocative façade of the 'Bosco Verticale' - the two iconic Milanese skyscrapers designed by architect Stefano Boeri - innovation, sustainability and the promotion of Italian roots are the inspiring principles of the Pavilion, which hosted the stands of thirteen 'Made in Italy' companies in various sectors, from satellite technologies to commercial vehicles, from agrifood to logistics, from pet products to school education. Ample space was given to the valorisation of the large Italian community - it is estimated that more than 40% of Uruguayans have Italian ancestry - which makes the country strategic for the promotion of root tourism. The Pavilion was thus the setting for the promotional activities of the Italea project, which promotes the return tourism of Italian descendants in collaboration with the General Directorate for Italians Abroad of the Farnesina. Still on the subject of tourism promotion, thanks to the collaboration with ENIT, visitors were able to visit the city of Matera with a 3D viewer on board a Vespa, without leaving the Pavilion.