Regions have important role at Expo 2025 Osaka - Vattani

(ANSA) - ROME, NOV 21 - Ambassador Mario Vattani, the Commissioner General for Italy at Expo 2025 Osaka, has said that, at the Universal Exhibition, "the intention is for Italy to present itself with culture, technology and research with the regions coming along in spectacular fashion".
    He explained that "It is necessary to present ourselves as a varied country, rich with culture that one should get ti know better. That, in the end, is the aim of Expo".
    Speaking to ANSA during the JETCUP - the competition for sommeliers, being held for the 16th time at the Italian Culture Institute in Tokyo - Vattani emphasized the work that has been done for the next Universal Exhibition since the start, with the signing of a protocol with Friuli Venezia Giulia Governor Massimiliano Fedriga, who is also the president of the Conference of Regions.
    "Lazio, for example, will bring Ulysses' head from Sperlonga, as well as all our aerospace and high-technology businesses," he said.
    "Japan knows what Italy is, but other countries in the region know us mainly for fashion, design and gastronomy. We must complete that puzzle, and do it with the help of the regions." The commissioner also stressed that, despite the different sizes of our regions, more have already signed up for the Osaka Expo than were present at Dubai 2020.
    "It is obvious that it costs a lot of money to get to Japan, but the advantages are enormous," he said.
    "We have commissioned a study by the Polytechnic University of Milan which shows that we expect a 20% increase in exports with respect to current levels, which is equivalent to an increase of 700 million euros from the start of Expo Osaka in April 2025.
    "It also results in attracting investments because, thanks to the collaboration with the Business and Made in Italy Ministry (Mimit), each region will present itself via the large Japanese companies that invest there.
    "An example is Lazio, with Takeda's 350-million-euro investment in the city of Rieti.
    "We have to tell this story - the concept is that of working as a system". (ANSA).