July 1 – An Umbria Region delegation is heading to China to discuss potential partnerships on food security, the opening of “Umbria spaces” for the spread of Umbrian food products, technical assistance for the improvement of Chinese wine production, the identification of specific Umbria tourism “packages” for the Chinese market, and the development of cultural relations open with the agreements between the Umbria Region, Academy of Fine Arts, Conservatory of Perugia and Bej Jing Institute of Technology. There are many opportunities in the areas of food security and the reorganization of trade production and chains for agribusinesses in the region. “Thanks to the spirit of initiative of some private actors – said Giampiero Rasimelli of the Region’s International Relations Department and coordinator of the program – a sort of Umbria Space came to life within the Design District ‘798 ‘, in which Umbrian food products are sold alongside products related to ‘Eurochocolate.’ In the province of He Bei there are on-going efforts to provide technical assistance aimed at improving Chinese wine production. Meetings have also been held with the Sino-Italian cooperation, which manages the ‘credit-aid’ for projects in the provinces of Yunnan and Shandong. There is in fact a partnership between Umbria and Yunnan (where, in the city of Kunming, at the initiative of individuals, another Umbria space was opened) in the areas of food safety, tobacco, education and tourism. Regarding the latter, Beijing hosted a meeting with the most important Chinese tour operators, which revealed their growing interest for Umbria. We thus feel that a delicate personalization packaging of tourist offers will allow to insert the region in the traditional ‘tours’ of Rome-Florence-Venice. In mid-October, Umbria will host an ‘educational’ tour for operators and press representatives, aimed at the development of these specific packages. In terms of the agreements between the Umbria Region, the Academy of Fine Arts and the Conservatory of Perugia with Bej Jing Institute of Design, – concluded Rasimelli – we are scheduling for 2014 the arrival of 150 Chinese students for ‘stages’ and training.”
