Coordination is under way for “Italy in Japan 2013”, a bi-annual event promoted by the Embassy of Italy in Tokyo aimed at taking advantage of the visibility offered by the major cultural events on the calendar to strengthen economic collaboration, particularly in the energy and IT sectors.
The event, hosted by the foreign ministry in Rome, was chaired by Director General for Country Promotion Amb. Maurizio Melani; other participants included the Italian ambassador to Japan Vincenzo Petrone, President of the Agency for Foreign Promotion Monti, President of Invitalia Innocenzi Botti, President of the Italy-Japan Foundation Amb. Vattani, representatives of the Ministries of Economic Development, MIBAC MIUR, the Embassy of Italy in Japan, the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi, and prominent Italian firms, agencies and institutions.
Rich calendar of cultural events
During the meeting Ambassador Petrone reviewed the calendar of events planned, placing special emphasis on some of the larger-scale ones: exhibitions on Raphael, Leonardo and Rubens, theatrical tours by Venice’s “La Fenice”, Milan’s La Scala and Turin’s Teatro Regio, featuring the works of Verdi on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the composer’s birth.
Promotional events for exports
The cultural events will be flanked by promotional initiatives aimed at enhancing Italian exports (Exhibitions “Moda Italy”, “Shoes from Italy”, Foodex, the Italian Wine Week) and tourism (Italian stand at the JATA trade fair for tourism). A central event will be the Italy-Japan Business Group, the most prominent industrial cooperation forum (the 2013 edition of which will follow on the one planned for Catania in October 2012). Ample attention will also go to the presentation of collaborative efforts in applied research, particularly in the fields of energy, nano-sciences, “smart cities” and technologies applied to the conservation and utilization of cultural assets.
Participation in the events is open to those interested until October 1st 2012 through the website www.italyinjapan.com.
