Press release 2009

DIANA BRACCO: "ECONOMIC RECOVERY IS POSSIBLE IF WE INVEST IN SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY." THIS APPEAL WAS LAUNCHED AT THE EVENT DEDICATED TO INNOVATION
Press release no. 185/09
(22/12/2009)

The show, which will continue until Saturday 28 November, will have 600 exhibiting companies on an exhibition area of 30,000 square metres.

"Innovation must be the centre of the debate of our country because we can only come out of this economic crisis with innovation, which is the tool with which companies can compete efficiently in the global market," according to Diana Bracco, vice president of Confcommercio, who took part in the inauguration of the six shows (HTE, Robotica, CHEM-MED, Biotech, EnerSolar+ e Greenergy Expo) at fieramilano (Rho), which will be an event able to offer, even during this period of economic difficulty, interesting opportunities of business and professional updating. "We can make a new economic miracle from a scientific-technological miracle," Diana Bracco went on to say.

A concrete example came from the mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, who was given an award from Assobiotec, the Italian Association for Biotechnological Developments, part of Federchimica, for her commitment in the development of new sectors and, in particular, in biotechnologies. "The Municipality of Milan has invested considerably in research and, in only two years, thanks to our "technological incubators", 46 companies have been set up, which, all together, have a turnover of EUR 25 million, explained Letizia Moratti. "The biotechnology sector in particular, offers considerable opportunities also for small, but highly technological companies."

The Lombardy Region and the Milan Province also took part in the conference to present their experiences, especially in the energy sector. "Our plan of action foresees the monitoring of the demand and offer of energy from 2007 to 2010," said Massimo Buscemi, assessor for the Grid and Services of Public Utility and Sustainable development of the Lombardy Region. In order to encourage the development of renewable energies, we are aiming at simplifying administrative procedures, and right now we have determined the liberalization of wells for the production of geothermal energy."

"The Province of Milan has already installed photovoltaic plants in 45 schools, and we deem this to have an educational value too," explained Bruno Dapei, president of the provincial Board of Milan. "There are also par excellence cases: a school of Legnano, for example, sells the excess energy it produces."

An interesting international experience was that presented by Nikolay Churkin, vice president of the Committee for the protection of natural resources and the environment of the Russian Federation, according to whom, "In this historical period, we must move towards the natural sources of energy used by our ancestors, forgotten for too long. Present traditional energy sources, in fact, are not infinite, while we can get the energy we need for our future from nature."

In this respect, the well-known Italian poet and songwriter Giulio Mogol, who, has set up a zero-emission town, launched a provocation: "Crude oil is coming to and end? We are lucky, because if it were not so we wouldn’t be seeing the present development of renewable energies, which is, in any case, late in taking place."

Tomorrow, HTE-Hi.Tech.Expo (science, research and high-tech), Robotica (humanoid and service robots), CHEM-MED (scientific and laboratory instrumentation), and Biotech (biotechnologies), EnerSolar+ (solar and thermal photovoltaics) and Greenergy Expo (renewable energies) will continue at fieramilano, Rho, with a rich calendar of events and conferences.

Press Office: Rosella Sola (cell. 348.2897926), Davide Grassi (cell. 348.2829775) - e-mail press@zeroemission.eu