His Excellency, President John Dramani Mahama, will join his colleague Heads of State across the world to participate in this year’s ‘World Expo 2015’ slated to take place in Milan, Italy from 13th to 18th July, 2015.
He will on Friday perform a flag-raising ceremony to commemorate Ghana's Day at the on-going Milan Expo, during which the Ghana Pavilion at the Expo would also host a Business Forum.
Participants at this year's Expo include 145 countries, three international organizations, several civil society organizations, corporations and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
Each of the 145 participating countries will be hosted in a self-built pavilion; so they can use the opportunity to showcase to the world its different types of biodiversity.
The theme chosen for the 2015 Milan Universal Exposition is “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life”. This embraces technology, innovation, culture, traditions and creativity and how they relate to food and diet.
Expo 2015 will further develop themes introduced in earlier Expos (e.g., water at Expo 2008 in Zaragoza) in the light of new global scenarios and emerging issues, with a principal focus on the right to healthy, secure and sufficient food for all the world’s inhabitants.
The concerns of many futurologists about the quality of food in the years to come are compounded by forecasts of increasing uncertainties regarding the quantities of food that will be available globally.
However, the rapid depletion of agricultural surpluses has clearly manifested the urgency of the problem of how to Feed the Planet and prevent hunger.
The area occupied by the Expo 2015 site is located about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northwest of Milan in the municipalities of Rho and Pero, and covers an area of 1.1 km2 (0.42 sq mi.
The fairgrounds and the Expo site will be connected by a pedestrian bridge adjacent to the Rho-Pero high-speed rail station.
50% of the area occupied by pavilions, 35% of the area dedicated to external spaces around each pavilion, and the remaining 15% comprised a green perimeter ring around the site;
A 12,000 seat amphitheatre covering 9,000 m2 (2.2 acres) and a 6,000 seat Auditorium of 6,000 m2 (1.5 acres); Country pavilions in three different sizes depending on the financial resources of each participating country.
The exhibition areas are completely identical for each country and recreate the typical “food cycle” of each nation, from production to consumption.
President Mahama is also expected to hold meetings with a number of Italian businesses with interest in Ghana.
Ghana has very good diplomatic and economic relations with Italy. With over 118 Italian companies working in Ghana, Italy is ranked the 10th in terms of foreign projects registered in Ghana as at March this year.
Ghana's export to Italy, however, reached almost GH¢2.2billion in 2012, while imports from Italy amounted to GH¢500million. Majority of Ghana's exports to Italy were petroleum products.
President Mahama, who left Accra for Rome on Wednesday, will return home on Saturday. He is being accompanied by the Minister of Trade and Industry Dr Ekwow Spio Garbrah, Minister of Food and Agriculture, Mr Fifi Fiavi Kwetey, and the Secretary to the President Ambassador Kwesi Quartey
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