-For the promotion of Italian exports and business opportunities-

ROME, Aug. 29, 2024 /ANSA=Kyodo JBN/ --

The General Commissariat for Italy at Expo 2025 Osaka and Foreign Trade Agency

ICE for the promotion abroad and the internationalization of Italian companies have

signed a protocol of agreement to boost exports of Italian-made

products and to favour business opportunities for Italian

companies during the Universal Exhibition in the Japanese city.

The cooperation that aims to favour the participation of the

Italian entrepreneurial system at Expo 2025 Osaka, with a

particular focus on small and medium-sized companies - according

to a statement - was signed in Tokyo on board the Amerigo

Vespucci historic Italian navy training and sailing ship, which

reached Japan for the first time in its history, together, on

this occasion, with Villaggio Italia, the 'Multi-annual

itinerant world exhibition' of Italian excellence that offers

visitors a unique experience to get acquainted with Italy's

beauty through its art, culture, music, food, cinema, technology

and scientific research.

"The agreement signed with the ICE Agency widens the network of

institutional partnerships signed by the General Commissariat

for Italy at Expo 2025 Osaka to welcome the Italian productive

system that will arrive in Japan within an institutional context

of support and development of trade relations", commented

Ambassador Mario Vattani, the General Commissioner for Italy at

Expo 2025 Osaka.

"We will work together for the promotion of strategic projects

to publicize the innovation of the Italian production world,

also through the participation of Italian regions that we will

bring to the great global stage of Expo and to boost economic

and commercial relations between Italy and Japan", Vattani went

on to say.

"Expo 2025 Osaka not only represents a window to promote and get

(the public) acquainted with Made in Italy but also a crucial

opportunity to create new synergies between our excellence and

strategic markets like that of Japan and the Asian-Pacific"

region, said Matteo Zoppas, president of the ICE Agency.

"With this protocol of agreement, we stress our strong

commitment in turning events organized during Expo into key

moments for the development of Made in Italy, favouring the

encounter between demand and offer of our excellence.

"Through events, workshops and business fora, also thanks to the

involvement of associations and representatives of categories,

we aim to support the internationalization of small and

medium-sized Italian firms and to boost exports in sectors in

which Made in Italy has always been recognized, like the food

industry, fashion and wooden furniture, as well as innovative

ones like design, aerospace, life sciences, the energy

transition and artificial intelligence", he noted.

Expo 2025 Osaka will provide the most important opportunity in

the years to come to promote and develop exports of Italian

companies in the strategic Asia-Pacific area which is filled

with young and expanding markets.

It will be an unmissable occasion to showcase Italy's state of

the art: from design to the food industry, from fashion to

technology, from infrastructure to urban planning and energy,

from science to industry, with an in-depth look at aerospace,

robotics, life sciences, high technology, the pharmaceutical and

biomedical sectors.

The General Commissariat for Italy at Expo 2025 Osaka has

already signed institutional and cooperation agreements with

Confindustria, Cassa Depositi e Prestiti, Sace, Simest,

Fondazione Altagamma, Assolombarda, Confederazione Aepi,

Unindustria, Federlazio, Ance, and Confapi.

Liguria, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Marche and Emilia Romagna are

the first Italian regions to have signed agreements of

participation in the Italian pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka and

accords with other Italian regions are being finalized.

Source: General Commissioner’s Office of Italy for Expo 2025 Osaka