Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ploying more than 4.3 million people, they represent the life-blood of the region. And if
they're to stand any chance in the changing global economy they will need to focus on
differentiation and specialisation, much like the silk weavers of Como who now advise
visiting Chinese manufacturers.
Among them are high-end technology companies and business services as well as
value-added design, craft, food and fashion enterprises. After all, 15 million tourists flock
to Milan annually for La Scala openings, shopping in some 650 fashion showrooms, the
Milan film festival, art exhibits, football matches and international concerts, snapping up
nearly 10 million tickets a year.
This strong streak of entrepreneurialism and creativity is Lombardy's biggest asset, but
it needs a sturdy infrastructure to support it and at present the creaking transport system,
traffic-clogged autostrade and surprisingly low level of university graduates (just 16%)
are putting severe brakes on progress.
Expo 2015
The solution? The Expo 2015 world exhibition costing a cool €13.5 billion and forecast,
by Bocconi University, to achieve €25 billion in investment and the creation of 200,000
new jobs. It's a bold vision and one that Enrico Letta, Italy's prime minister, is banking on
to lift Italy out of its economic doldrums.
But there are fears that organised crime will infiltrate the bids (Letta vows it won't be
tolerated); budgets will overrun painfully; the city won't be able to accommodate the 20
million expected visitors; and the trains simply won't run on time (of the three metro lines
only MM5 is sure to be finished).
Still, the success of the Expo is vital not only to Lombardy, but to Europe as a whole,
commercially, psychologically and politically. With 131 countries signed up, including
economic powerhouses China, India, Brazil and Mexico, the prospects look hopeful. The
theme, too, plays to Lombardy's agricultural, design, biotech and engineering strengths,
Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life
. And the conceptual master plan for a 1.1 sq kilometre
'planetary garden' from architects Jacques Herzog, Mark Rylander, Ricky Burdett, Ste-
fano Boeri and William McDonough has been endorsed by former American vice presid-
ent and environmentalist Al Gore. Now all that's required is some of that Lombard
chutzpah to defy the naysayers and fulfil Expo president Diana Bracco's prophecy that
Expo will be 'the first major event after the crisis'.
