On the second leg of her Asia mission, Deputy Foreign Minister Marta Dassù presided in Tokyo, along Japan’s Deputy Minister for the Economy, Masaaki Taira, at the ceremony for the signing of the contract for the participation of Japan in the 2015 Milan EXPO.
Japan is an especially important partner as a result of its investment potential, as well as for expectations of a noteworthy high-end tourism influx, including young people, of great interest to Italy, and Milan in particular.
While in Tokyo, the Deputy Minister met with her Japanese counterpart, Toshiko Abe, to whom she reiterated the invitation to visit Italy already extended by Prime Minister Letta to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
Deputy Minister Dassù also expressed hopes in the highest level Japanese political participation in the ASEM summit planned for October 2014 in Milan, during Italy’s duty Presidency of the European Union.
Dassù also discussed aspects of economic cooperation, especially as regards investments, with the heads of the Keidanren (the Japanese industrial confederation) and with some of the principal Japanese business representatives.
