Italy is working finalising the details of its participation in Dubai’s Expo 2020, Italian Ambassador to UAE Liborio Stellino said.
Speaking to Gulf News on the sidelines of a press gathering to announce the details of the Italian cuisine week to be held in UAE later this month, Ambassador Liborio Stellino said “we are expecting now the budget law …(where) there will be the financing of the building of the (Italian) pavilion”.

“During this period from October to January, there will be two parallel channels: one the approval of the financial part and then the finalisation of the tender. With the New Year, the tender will be launched and I think that summer 2019, we will start the foundation (of the pavilion), probably before”.
Time is one of the challenges facing the Italian government to build its pavilion, said Italian Consul General Valentina Setta. “Yes, we are rushing, but we will be there,” she replied when asked about the challenges she is facing.
The Italian pavilion is going to be an “ambitious” and large one, said Stellino.

It will be 3,400 square meters and the estimated cost is around 30 million euros, he said.
Italy “is very committed to Expo because Milan hosted the 2015 expo … From 2015, we had the moral obligation to pass on the torch in a very responsible and committed way” to UAE, he said.
When it comes to World Pasta Day, Italians, the originators of pasta, don’t want to be upstaged.
So in the UAE, the Italian Trade Agency, the Italian Embassy, as well as the Consulate General of Italy in Dubai are joining efforts to kick off a month long celebrations starting from October 25 till November 25. October 25 will mark the 20th anniversary of World Past Day, and this is going to the be the first time the event is celebrated in UAE. It will coincided Italian Cuisine Week in UAE. The events include a wide range of events.
Italian food exports to UAE in 2017 reached 320 million euro, (Dh1.35 billion) he said. The figure represent a small percentage of Italy’s 5.3 billion euro (Dh22 billion) overall trade with UAE, according to Gianpaolo Bruno, Italian Trade Commissioner to the UAE, Oman, and Pakistan.

Source: Gulf News