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An unrepeatable and unmissable opportunity to strengthen the competitiveness of our companies on the global stage.

And since Confimprese Italia has always paid great attention to internationalisation, we are going to Expo Osaka 2025 to leave our mark.

It must be said, in relation to the Japanese Exhibition, that there is a ‘before’, there will be a ‘during’ and then an ‘after’. The agreement we have signed with Mario Vattani (Commissioner General for Italy at Expo 2025 Osaka) has allowed us to better prepare the ‘before’.

As for the ‘during’, it is clear that our delegation (twenty businessmen and women) will be able to achieve the objective of putting companies in the ‘shop window’ and at the centre of the system.

A bit like the church at the centre of the village. We are talking about businesses that encompass all dimensions at every level.

Let me summarise: from micro enterprises in the confectionery sector to Geko (the giant in the field of sustainable energy, of course). Finally the ‘after’: it will depend on how much we are able to do in Osaka, but we are aware of the absolute goodness of our excellence. 26 August will be an important day. Inside the Italian Pavilion our confederation will have its own exhibition space. The ambition? To amaze, to convince, to capitalise for the future. It is a space dedicated to Italian companies and in that context we will have to deploy all our skills, all our intelligence, all our commitment. By being a team. The ‘mission’ of Confimprese Italia will last from 23 to 30 August. The 26th will be the crucial date. We must be aware that after the presentation, the ‘B2B’ phase will open for our companies, an acronym that stands for ‘business to business’. This is a fundamental and decisive moment in terms of business relations, but also in terms of relationships. First and foremost with Japanese companies. But not only.

We represent the territories and the small and medium enterprises that those territories interpret and characterise. We want to guarantee them the best possible representation in a context of global value such as the Expo. This is why the meticulous work of Confimprese Italia began in February, with the signing of the memorandum of understanding with Ambassador Mario Vattani. From that moment on, there have been numerous initiatives and there will be others. Hundreds of companies have been involved, many of them of absolute excellence. Our employers’ organisation, founded in 1996, is now considered among the most representative at national level. Through its representations throughout the country, Confimprese Italia carries out daily activities based on objectives, strategies and details. On training, for example by stimulating companies, especially smaller ones, to use funded training for employees, and on environmental and social governance to comply with European directives.

Participation in Expo Osaka is not an occasional event in the actions of Confimprese Italia, which was already a signatory in 2020 of the Export Pact with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and which has numerous foreign delegations and boasts excellent relations with institutional representations, particularly those of China, Tunisia, Hungary and Albania, with which it periodically cultivates import-export initiatives to the advantage of member companies.

Last but not least, we play a leading role in the Mattei Plan for Africa, in constant relations with the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.

Made in Italy, that of micro and small enterprises, especially those representing local communities, finds in Confimprese Italia a valuable partner. We will certainly keep the context of the event in Japan in mind. In this regard, we believe that ‘Art Regenerates Life’ is not just a slogan, but rather represents a design vision that holds together and ‘merges’ aesthetics, ethics and sustainability. We are talking about the leitmotif of the Expo 2025 in Osaka, in which Italy certainly does not limit itself to participating, but wants to tell its story, get involved and dialogue with the world. It is also for this reason that the Pavilion dedicated to our country presents itself inspired by the Renaissance. Noble roots of the past but also a modern vision of the future. So that Made in Italy is affirmed and declines along the road of sustainability and innovation, constantly looking into the future.

Our ambition is to tell the story of Sistema Paese and the virtuous reality of Confimprese Italia. Through the dissemination and planning of scientific and cultural initiatives linked to innovation, growth, and the internationalisation of small and medium enterprises. The Expo is a unique showcase, capable of bringing together industry, creativity, art, and work. We have an extraordinary opportunity to show how much we focus on innovation, new technologies, and integrated promotion projects. This is what we will do inside the Italian Pavilion on 26 August. It is worth remembering the words of Ambassador Mario Vattani: ‘Expo 2025 Osaka is an unmissable opportunity to strengthen the competitiveness of our companies on the global stage. Thanks to the Protocol with Confimprese Italia we are committed to promoting innovation, growth and internationalisation of our entrepreneurial fabric. The micro, small, and medium-sized Italian companies that characterise our production and manufacturing system can once again become protagonists by bringing the excellence of our know-how to the world. Words that make us feel proud and at the same time give us a great deal of responsibility. We will know how to live up to them, increasing the visibility and competitiveness of our companies on a global scale. Naturally, a coordination made up of representatives from both sides was appointed to implement the Protocol. It is a document that also focuses on actions for the integrated promotion of tourism, involving companies, investors, start-ups and stakeholders in concrete internationalisation opportunities, including through workshops and ‘B2B’ of participating companies. We know that we will have to move in a context of international investors. This is the challenge to be overcome. Special attention will be paid to companies in the spa sector, which is strategic and highly attractive in terms of tourism.

We will have a busy agenda and we will have to be ready. Not only: we will have to move within the framework of what the Italian Pavilion represents and inspires, because it is among the most visited and narrates the charm of the country with the typical places of its urban and social identity. Porticoes, piazza, theatre and Italian-style garden. It is already considered among the most beautiful. A meeting, exchange and enhancement space for productive realities, therefore, which on 26 August will be tinged with the colours of Confimprese Italia, with a day entirely dedicated to the association and Italian entrepreneurial excellence. An event, this one, that follows the signed protocol of understanding. The main objective underpinning the document is the dissemination and planning of initiatives related to innovation, growth and internationalisation of local industrial realities. The delegation will consist of about twenty participants, including managers and entrepreneurs, from various Italian regions, with a strong representation from Ciociaria and the Latina province. The day will be divided into two parts: the morning will be devoted to an institutional event, with a conference dedicated to the role of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, an expression of excellence that is widespread and rooted in the Italian economic fabric, while in the afternoon there will be meetings between the delegations and with Japanese buyers and others present at the Expo. In the following days, the delegation will move to Tokyo for a series of institutional meetings with all the reference bodies of the Italian government, starting with the Embassy, the Consulate, Simest and Sace. After this series of appointments, which represents a strategic opportunity to strengthen international relations and promote Italian products, the delegation will leave for Italy on 31 August. This is why we are proud of this mission and will try to represent our territory in the best possible way in what is set to be the most important international context of 2025. We will carry the insignia of the territories in the highest planetary context.

On the Ministry’s website, the Osaka ‘mission’ is described as follows: ‘Italy will be present at the event with its own Pavilion designed by architect Mario Cucinella as a modern interpretation of the Ideal City of the Renaissance, with its theatre, porticoes, piazza and Italian-style garden, typical places of Italy’s urban and social identity. Italy’s participation in Expo aims to expand and complete the image of Italy in the world through excellence, cutting-edge technology, scientific research, classical and contemporary works of art, design and craftsmanship, music and live daily performances. Expo 2025 Osaka will offer Italy a global stage for the integrated promotion of the country system and Made in Italy in the Asia-Pacific area”.

Confimprese Italia will have to move within these boundaries, but never losing sight of its role of representing micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. On every occasion I have repeated that the circular economy and sustainability are now central issues for the future of businesses, the territory and the environment. In an ever-changing global context, companies are called upon to renew their business models, adopting practices that reduce environmental impact, optimise resources and promote responsible use of materials. What better opportunity than to participate, as a key player, in Expo 2025 Osaka? Because there is no doubt that concepts such as trade diplomacy and the exchange of experiences are indispensable in today’s economic landscape. Our confederation would like to proudly highlight its commitment over almost 30 years. A commitment that has unfolded through the accompaniment of our member companies in obtaining financing, particularly in micro-credit formulas, up to the international marketing and promotion services carried out at the confederation’s foreign offices, which are permanently present in countries related to the development of sectors of expertise. I am thinking of tourism, services, and the manufacturing industry. That is why the ‘mission’ to Osaka represents both a starting point and an arrival point. We are going to promote our cultural and commercial traditions, our technological excellence. Showing that the solidity of the present is the best basis for planning the future.

As far as I am concerned, the factor that makes the difference is the focus on the territories. It should be borne in mind that in very small, small and medium-sized enterprises there is a virtuous synergy between production and attention to workers. In the economic context in which we live, shared policies and choices must necessarily be made. There can be no divisions. At Confimprese we all row together. On 26 August we will be able to show that all this... can be done. Even on a larger scale. We will put on the ground the areas identified in the signed Protocol. Let us remember them: ‘The culture of design, craft skills, creative thinking, the nature-technology relationship, and humanity have always linked cultures and artistic expressions in Italy and Japan, with particular reference to local productions, which have always contributed to the promotion of their territories in the world; to the expressions that in wellness and well-being find a meeting and a parallel in the Italian and Japanese realities (with particular attention to the thermal activity and development of small realities and villages linked to the peculiarities of development of some areas that become national excellences) in the culture of welcoming the valorisation of differences through the meeting of economic, social and artistic realities, the comparison and the creation of international networks for the support of tourism activities”. But also space for research, artistic experimentation in a broadly interdisciplinary sense, with the ability to represent social issues such as diversity, sustainability and inclusion.

I repeat: all the sectors represented by our confederation will have the opportunity to show what they produce, what they are worth, what they represent. Everyone, no one excluded.

The symbol of Expo 2025 Osaka is ‘the Grand Roof - Ring’. Designed by Expo designer Fujimoto Sou, it represents the philosophy of the World Expo: ‘United in Diversity’.

Here, united in diversity. With the strength of our history and our achievements, always in the field, always in the trenches, always ready to amaze. We will also do this in Japan.