In a press conference held in the Italian business capital at the end of this week, organizers said 80 percent of main works are complete and some of the 80 pavilions, of which 53 self-built, are almost ready. Some 2,800 people are working at the expo site and they will become 3,500 next month. In the past years, Expo Milano 2015 has been blamed for serious delays in the construction works.
«Some four months before the opening, we have sold more than 7 million tickets,» Expo Sole Commissioner of the Italian Government Giuseppe Sala said. The figure is about one third of the total number of tickets for the expected 20 million visitors from all over the world, he added.
Sala stressed the upcoming exposition, dedicated to nutrition, food security and sustainable development, will especially be an opportunity for the youth. Many learning activities will be dedicated to children, while training projects will be activated for 200 university interns. The volunteers program has registered more than 15,000 international young people, mostly students, so far.
In fact the six-month event will be a sort of «multi-sensory journey» in the world of food to discover the history, variety, production process and tasting of dishes from the 144 participant countries and regions, he said.
There will be around 100 restaurants in the pavilions at the exhibition site. «We want Expo Milano 2015 to be the biggest restaurant in the world,» Sala stressed. The Expo Milano 2015 mascot, Foody, stands for community, diversity and food in the broadest sense, as a source of life and energy.
But the common focus, dressed with plenty of in-depth meetings and high-profile initiatives, Sala highlighted, will be «on the fundamental need to feed the entire planet with a sustainable approach to nutrition.» A formal document, the so-called Chart of Milan, will be drawn up and presented to the United Nations (UN) to join hands at the international level and fight against hunger.
Awareness campaigns and edutainment activities will play a crucial role to arouse awareness on the sustainable nutrition issue. For example, Sala said, visitors will find an exciting approach at the Swiss Pavilion, where huge silos will be filled with food from Switzerland at disposal of visitors.
The idea is that the visitors have to be responsible with the amount of pieces they grab, because the pavilion will be filled up only two or three times during the whole expo period, which should simulate the limited resources on the earth and make a hint to a responsible conservation of them.
Sala highlighted the «festival atmosphere» of the world exposition, which every day will celebrate the National Day of a participating country. The Open Air Theater every evening will host the exclusive show of the Cirque Du Soleil. The site will be open from 10:00 a.m. local time(0900GMT) to 11.00 p.m.
Italian tenor Andrea Bocelli and fashion designer Giorgio Armani will inaugurate the Expo Milano 2015 with special shows on April 30. Chinese pianist Lang Lang and Juventus football club goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon are among the other famed «expo ambassadors.»
Organizers explained that the expected 250,000 visitors per day will be able to reach the expo – located in the northwestern part of Milan over an area of about 1 million square meters and designed in a shape of an island – from the city center in about half an hour by metro or train. More than 70 percent visitors are expected to reach the site with public transport, while nearly 25,000 car parks will be available for those traveling by car.
Italy’s public sector has invested 1.3 billion euros(1.59 billion U.S. dollars), with additional around 1 billion euros coming from participants. Revenues of 800 million euros are expected from the sale of tickets and merchandising, while an added value of 5 billion euros has been estimated in the touristic sector. (1 euro = 1.22 U.S. dollars)