On May 1st the international exhibition Milan Expo-2015 opened in Italy with the motto ‘Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.’ World Expo Exhibitions have been held regularly since 1851; and they are thought to be the third major international event (after the Olympic Games and the World Football Cups) in terms of the number of visitors who come from various countries of the world. This year representatives of 145 countries arrived in Milan, and only one third of them were represented not by booths, but by national pavilions.
One of the longest queues was for the pavilion of Azerbaijan, which was represented at the exhibition for the first time. The foundation of the Azerbaijani pavilion was laid in July 2014 with support from the Heydar Aliyev Center and the Heydar Aliyev Foundation. The pavilion covered about 2000 square meters and four floors, where information on Azerbaijan's history, cultural heritage, environment, energy potential and unique biodiversity was presented. According to the architect of the pavilion, Ricardo Cigalotti, a huge work was undertaken from the point of view of architecture, design and engineering. The concept of the pavilion included three biospheres which reflected harmony between the environment and the rich ancient culture.
The National Day of Azerbaijan was marked at the exhibition on July 9th. President Ilham Aliyev and First Lady Mehriban Aliyeva participated in this. A scientific conference ‘Energy of the Azerbaijani Land’ was held in July; the business forum ‘Investments in Azerbaijan: Business Environment and Opportunities’ took place in August; the Forum of Universities of Azerbaijan and Italy was held in September; and the presentation of the 2016 UEFA Cup and the popular scientific conference ‘Products, Life, Science’ took place in September.
Anar Alakbarov, the Director of the Heydar Aliyev Center, stated that the ‘Azerbaijan: Treasury of Biodiversity’ project was called the pearl of the Milan Expo 2015 by the Italian government. 3.25 million people visited the Azerbaijani pavilion over 6 months. Alakbarov thanked the international team of 300 people who worked on the project for 19 months. He stressed that it became possible only due to the active support of the President of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev and the President of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Mehriban Aliyeva.
As a result, the Azerbaijani pavilion was awarded in the nomination of ‘Design and Materials’ as the most successful environmentally friendly project within the program of ‘Toward a Long-Term Expo’ by the Ministry for Environment and Marine Resources Conservation of Italy. It was also called the most beautiful national pavilion of the exhibition.
Various governmental and non-governmental organizations of Azerbaijan and Italy conducted conferences, business forums, and presentations from May 1st to October 31st. Manuela Traldi, the head of the Italian-Azerbaijani Trade Institute ITAZERCOM, stated at the presentation ‘Investments in Azerbaijan: Business Environment and Opportunities’ that Azerbaijan implemented major projects in various spheres of the economy, in which Italian companies participated as well. The activities of the Azerbaijani Investment Company, the Sumgait Chemical Industrial Park, and the Balakhani Industrial Park were presented at the event.
Now the Azerbaijani pavilion in Milan will be dismantled and relocated to the Baku Boulevard. However, it has to be modernized to made stable under Baku winds and bad weather,
The next World Expo is planned for 2020 in Dubai, and in 2017 it is planned to hold the World Specialized Expo Exhibition in Astana.
