Letta eyes Milan Expo 2015 boost as EU signs contract

(By Sandra Cordon) (ANSA) – Milan, December 9 – Milan Expo 2015 will give Italy the kind of boost to both its economy and its morale that the country enjoyed when Rome hosted the Olympics in 1960, Premier Enrico Letta said Monday.

“Expo 2015 will be a landmark event for our country and could have the same impact as the Olympics in Rome in 1960 that showed the world the Italian economic miracle of the ’50s,” following the destruction of the Second World War, Letta said as the European Union (EU) signed a participation contract for the world’s fair.

“(Expo) will be an opportunity to show that the country is starting to grow again,” added Letta, who has said he is confident the Italy economy is already emerging from its worst recession since the Second World War and will show growth in its gross domestic product (GDP) in 2014.

Hosting the world’s fair will also raise Italian spirits and give the country a boost on the European stage by lifting Milan’s profile as a world-class city, he said.

“Expo is an important event for the future of our country and now clearly there is a perception that Milan, through Expo, will be a European capital,” Letta said at a joint news conference with European Commission President Jos