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Italian gov't ready to fund post-Expo scientific project: PM

Xinhua, November 11, 2015 Adjust font size:

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi said on Tuesday his government was willing to invest 150 million euros (160 million U.S. dollars) a year over the next decade to turn the Milan world exposition site into a scientific research center.

"We believe the Expo area must be an area with strong scientific and cultural value. Therefore, we think that the government should do its part," Renzi told a press conference.

"In the project, that we have called 'Italy 2040,' Italy can be a global leader in technologies for human beings and improving the quality of life, which involves health, nutrition and sustainability," he said.

In his center-left government's view, the expo site should become "a world-class center for genomics and big data research" employing as many as 1,600 researchers.

Renzi said there were a number of research initiatives on cancer genomics, personalized medicine, neuro degeneration and nutrition, but none of them were interdisciplinary.

The Italy 2040 project, he went on saying, envisages an initial nucleus of six laboratories dedicated to cancer genomics, neuro genomics, food and nutrition, development of analysis models and big data, software and bioinformatics, and socioeconomic impact.

Infrastructure, a vision and synergy are the three fundamental ingredients of this project, the Italian prime minister said, inviting universities and companies to collaborate.

"We must get started right away in order to impart a sense of the mission," he said praising the Expo Milano 2015, which opened on May 1, as a great success. "The Expo area must not become an area of regret," he insisted.

The expo site stretched along an over 1 million sq meter area northwest of Milan. More than 140 countries and organizations had a presence with a record number of 54 self-built pavilions. Endit