LONDON – His Excellency, Mr Raffaele Trombetta, Ambassador of Italy to Brazil released the following statement on the occasion of the 111th Session of the International Coffee Council on 9 September 2013.
“Mr Chairman of the Council of the International Coffee Organization (ICO),
H.E. Mr José Ángel López Camposeco,
Executive Director of the International Coffee Organization, Mr Robério Oliveira Silva,
Delegates,
It is a pleasure to present Italy’s bid to host the World Coffee Conference in 2015, which has already been formalised by correspondence from the Chairman of the Italian Council, Enrico Letta, and is supported by the member states of the European Union.
My presentation will comprise four main aspects that make the city of Milan the ideal venue for the 4th World Coffee Conference.
- Milan and the Universal Exhibition 2015
- Innovation and the coffee “Cluster” model
- Networking and cooperation
- Milan and its experience as the venue for major international events
1. Milan and the Universal Exhibition 2015
Italy, as you may know, is due to host the next Universal Exhibition in Milan from 1st May to 31st October 2015. To date official confirmations for EXPO 2015 have been registered from 132 countries and international organizations
The theme of the event will be “Feeding our planet, Energy for life”. In a world in which over one billion people are suffering hunger and whose population will have reached nine billion by 2050, food-related problems call for urgent attention.
The aim is for EXPO 2015 to serve as a venue for meetings and debates where concrete solutions can emerge to the problems of guaranteeing the right to a healthy, safe and sufficient diet for all, ensuring that the agro-food chain is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable and safeguarding knowledge about food culture.
2. Innovation and the coffee “Cluster” model
Moreover, the EXPO devoted much attention to commodities, and innovative participation has been proposed around shared themes or clusters, one of the most important of which will be that relating to coffee.
Over 4,400 square metres have been allocated for events, exhibitions and commercial activities that are purely coffee-related, and the architectural project is the result of collaboration between the Milan Polytechnic and the University of São Paulo.
“Coffee in the Forest” is the name of the concept that focuses on traditional coffee production in the shade of the Central American and African rainforests.
3. Networking and cooperation
Milan offers what could be an extraordinary opportunity to achieve an advantage through the major synergies that would develop between the Universal Exhibition and the ICO if the next World Coffee Conference is held there.
Scheduled to attend are delegations from around the world, led by Presidents and Prime Ministers with their accompanying experts and high level representatives.
Expo Milan will be a place that cannot lack a unique office for debates, initiatives and major cultural events.
4. Milan and its experience hosting major international events
“Fiera Milano” is the official partner of EXPO 2015, where the 4th World Coffee Conference could take place. “Fiera Milano” has decades of experience and is responsible for organizing over 500 events a year.
“Milano Congressi” is the convention centre which opened in 2011 in the city centre and that has capacity for up to 1,500 delegates. Furthermore, Milan has a network of infrastructure and logistics and important passenger capacity ─ that is being upgraded ─ including, for example, close to 3,400 direct flights per week between the city and the rest of the world.
While I greatly respect other possible candidates, I believe that organizing a World Coffee Conference in the framework of a Universal Exhibition, such as that in Milan, centering on the subject of food and sustainability, with a forecast participation of over 20 million visitors, represents a unique opportunity for all of us.
In the spirit of close cooperation among countries which has characterised EXPO 2015 from the outset, we can consider that this showcase of the Universal Exhibiton and Milan’s organizational capacity will be readily available if the 4th World Coffee Conference goes ahead there.
It offers producer and consumer countries alike a major opportunity to focus the attention of institutions, media and civil society even more on coffee’s importance to the socio-economic development of the men and women of our planet.”
