The week dedicated to Puglia has
concluded at the Italy Pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka.
The event highlighted the Region’s great role in supporting the
Country System.
From hospitality to new economy sectors, including aerospace,
many examples of excellence were brought by Puglia to Japan.
The tale of this long journey starts in the municipality of
Grottaglie, which is set to witness the birth of a spaceport of
primary relevance.
Puglia has cultivated for years its relationship with the
aerospace sector thanks to a biannual convention with
Mediterranean countries, the MAM (Mediterranean Aerospace
Matching) – which pursues economic integration in this specific
field .
And such a relationship was strengthened in Osaka with a
challenge aimed at the construction of an integrated system for
advanced air mobility based on innovation, cooperation and
shared experiences.
The excellence of the Puglia Region was also on show through its
culture, which was represented in Osaka by Pino Pascali’s oeuvre
‘9mp of puddles’.
Pascali, an artist from Polignano a Mare, is well known in
Japan.
The public can admire his masterworks at the local National
Museum of Modern Art.
Puglia’s culture was also on displace with the Orchestra La
Notte della Taranta that involved thousands of visitors at the
Italy Pavilion thanks to the rhythm of folk music.
And the connection between Puglia and Japan was symbolized by
‘luminarie’, or light decorations, one of the most ancient
regional traditions, represented among others by the
Municipality of Scorrano which hosts a Museum of Luminarie and
is twinned with the Japanese city of Kobe.
Innovation was also a protagonist of events thanks to the
formats Innovit and Esabic.
And innovation in the economic sector was on the agenda of the
talk ‘Invest in Puglia, the Region driving Smart Business
Investments’ which presented, among others, investments in the
Region by NTT Data and the example of MERMEC Japan.
While NTT Data has recently invested 20 million euros in Puglia,
MERMEC, which is part of the industrial group Angel Holding
founded by Cav. Vito Pertosa, in Puglia, is active globally and
boasts a long history of over 60 years, operating in different
high-tech sectors, including rail, aerospace and digital
mechatronics, in 73 countries.
It employs more than 3,000 people, 70% of whom are highly
qualified engineers, distributed across 21 countries.
It opened a branch in Tokyo in 2017 and also inaugurated new
headquarters in Osaka in 2024 with a laboratory for research and
development.
The visibility granted by Expo 2025 Osaka is also an opportunity
to boost Puglia’s exports: over the 2022-2024 period, the region
exported to Japan goods worth between 221 and 269 million euros,
while imports from Japan were worth between 7.8 and 13 million
euros.
Such figures confirm the competitiveness of many of Puglia’s
production chains – in particular in the automotive and agrifood
sectors – in the Japanese market.
Significant growth was also recorded in the aerospace sector,
with exports growing by 52% in the same period.
Typical agrifood products reported a positive trend as well,
with exports worth 62 million euros in 2024.
The results prove the Region is attractive, with a territory
hosting more than 1,500 foreign multinationals.
“Puglia has been a great protagonist of the Italy Pavilion at
Expo 2025 Osaka”, said the Commissioner General for Italy at
Expo 2025 Osaka, Ambassador Mario Vattani.
“We are grateful to Governor (Michele) Emiliano, Councillor
(Alessandro) Delli Noci and to their entire team because the
Region has chosen to present itself in a coherent manner with
Italy’s narrative at Expo: our culture, territories, extremely
high-quality products and also a lot of technology”.
“The week dedicated to Puglia has wrapped up with important
results at the Italy Pavilion of Expo Osaka, an extraordinary
occasion to promote Puglia and its excellence to the rest of the
world”, said the Councillor for Economic Development of the
Puglia Region Alessandro Delli Noci.
“A week dedicated to the ‘Future of Community and of Mobility’
with the objective of raising the international community’s
awareness on the impact of future mobility, promoting regional
technological innovation and presenting opportunities of
investment in Puglia’s aerospace sector and in the other
strategic sectors for our economy.
“A Puglia with roots firmly planted in its history, in its
traditions, with a very clear identity, which eyes the future,
aerospace and innovation”, he concluded.
“Editorial initiative co-funded by the European Union for the
Puglia Region with resources of PR Puglia FESR – FSE+ 2021-2027″
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