Slovenia preparing for the EXPO Milano 2015 world exhibition

Slovenia will be presented at the EXPO Milano 2015, to which 141 countries from all around the world have applied, with its own exhibition area. SPIRIT Slovenia, Public Agency, will take care of the implementation of the Slovenian appearance in cooperation with various ministries. The main theme will be green, healthy and active Slovenia in connection with tourism and the I Feel Slovenia trademark.

The World Expo has been organized every five years since 1851 when the first such event was hosted in London by Queen Victoria. The EXPO has never been so close to Slovenia, who signed a participation agreement within the framework of an official visit of Prime Minister Alenka Bratušek last year. In the exhibition area, which is one million square meters in size, Slovenia has successfully guaranteed an independent pavilion in an excellent location.

The focus of the first EXPO, entitled "Industry for All Nations" was completely different than today. The new EXPO Milano 2015, which will open its doors on 1 May 2015, has the slogan "Food for the Planet, Energy for Life". This not only addresses the question of food, but other subthemes as well, such as sustainability, ecology, green innovations and healthy lifestyles. The purpose of the exhibition in Milano is to educate the public and to explore the bridging of problems of the modern world.

Organisers expect around 20 million visitors, 15 million of which will be Italians; in other words, every fourth Italian inhabitant will visit the EXPO in Milan. This is the first such event in Italy since the Winter Olympic Games in Torino in 2006; moreover, it is also a key economic event for Slovenia, since the neighbouring Italy is its second most important partner for export trade. The Italian market is of key importance for Slovenia also from the point of view of tourism, since Italians generated the most arrivals and overnight stays in Slovenia last year.

A result of the importance of EXPO for a country is most clearly visible in the Eiffel Tower that was constructed in Paris in 1889. Even though the inhabitants of Paris initially weren`t excited about the `pile of metal`, they even wanted to demolish it, the tower remained along the Seine and is now considered one of the biggest attractions in the world.

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