Today, April 21st, in the presence of the Italian Minister of Education, University and Research Stefania Giannini and the Minister for Science and Technology Wan Gang, it was successfully inaugurated the Fourth Edition of the China (Shanghai) International Technology Fair, the most important event held in Shanghai on the industrial and innovation field.
Thousands of exhibitors showed the technological excellences of the global industry in different sectors in the Shanghai World Exhibition & Convention Center. Italy, invited as Country of Honor in the 2016 Edition, organized through the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the ICE Office in Shanghai – with the coordination of Città della Scienza and under the aegis of the Italian Ministry of Research – the full participation of the Italian delegation representing approximately a hundred organizations belonging to the research and enterprises world in order to present the Italian Country-System on the subject of the Smart Cities.
Minister Giannini inaugurated the Italian Pavilion, where the Smart Cities projects were exposed, visited the Exhibition and met the Italian excellences, both the ones already settled in Shanghai and those participating in the mission.
In their Opening Speeches, Ministers Giannini and Wan Gang – who met for the second time in a few months, after the great success of the 2015 Edition of the China-Italy Science, Technology and Innovation Week held in China – underlined the importance of cooperation between Italy and China and emphasized the Smart Cities topic that is part of the priorities of cooperation between the two countries.
Minister Giannini expressed her appreciation to the Italian coordinators and to the high-profile representatives of the projects “Smart Cities and Social Innovation”, promoted by the Ministry of Research, for their valuable contribution to the Fair and for the promotion of innovative ideas and solutions for the benefit of the Italian and Chinese cities .
Minister Gianninihighlighted the successful results achieved through the Cooperation Program on the Internationalization of research-enterprise innovative systems between Italy and China, which aim at looking to future cooperation possibilities. A joint strategy to design new paths of innovation with an emphasis on the quality of life and the sustainable development.
Finally, Minister Giannini pointed out that the next meeting on science, technology and innovation between China and Italy will be held in Italy on the occasion of the 7th Edition of the Italy-China Science, Technology and Innovation Week, next October from 24 to 27 in Bergamo, Bologna and Naples.
The cooperation between Italy and China reached a successful stage, achieving the same level of other European Countries, as France and especially Germany, and this is proved by the high profile of the Italian delegation, and by the speeches of Barbara Degani, Undersecretary of the Italian Ministry of Environment, Vincenzo De Luca, General Director for the Promotion of the Country System of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Riccardo Monti, President of ICE.
The activities continued during the afternoon with a Round Table on the bilateral scientific and technological cooperation, attended by Luigi Ambrosio, Director of the Department of Chemical Sciences and Materials Technologies of the Italian National Research Council, who illustrated to the Chinese experts the Italian research projects on smart cities encouraging the building of partnerships within the forthcoming edition of the Italy-China Science, Technology and Innovation Week.