- The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella will be present on 25 August, the final day of the event.
- Among the institutional presences also the President of the Constitutional Court Silvana Sciarra and the President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi.
- Today’s presentation of the Meeting at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See was attended by: Maria Tripodi, Undersecretary of State for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Sabino Cassese, judge emeritus of the Constitutional Court and professor of Global Governance at the Luiss School of Government, and Micol Forti, curator of the Vatican Museums Modern and Contemporary Art Collection, as well as the president of the Meeting for Friendship Among Peoples Foundation ETS Foundation Meeting for Friendship Amongst Peoples, Bernhard Scholz.
Rimini / Rome, 11 July – The Rimini Meeting, now in its 44th edition, will be held from 20 to 25 August at the Rimini Expo Centre. With the title “Human existence is an inexhaustible friendship“, the event will be full of round tables, exhibitions, shows and cultural initiatives, and will also be broadcast live on several digital channels and in several languages. The programme, presented today at the Embassy of Italy to the Holy See, is available at the following link https://meetingrimini.news/cartellastampa_Roma.
The President of the Republic, Sergio Mattarella, has confirmed his presence on the final day, Friday 25 August.
“The partnership between the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Rimini Meeting grows stronger every year,” said Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Antonio Tajani. “The Meeting represents a unique opportunity to talk about Italy’s commitment in support of the articulated strategy of growth diplomacy that I wanted at the heart of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ action. A strategy that sees Italy increasingly a protagonist in the world and an actor of peace, stability, and development. At the Meeting we will illustrate – through a large exhibition space – how much the Italian Cooperation, with its national, European and international partners, is doing to address the great global challenges of our time, speaking first and foremost to the new generations”.
“We want to focus on friendship, good and creative relationships, positive and constructive relations,” explained the President of the Meeting Foundation, Bernhard Scholz. “We are convinced that this attention is urgent in a world marked by individualism and existential loneliness and with a geopolitical situation characterized by old and new conflicts, by atrocious wars even in the centre of our continent.” “A main theme of the Meeting”, Scholz continues, “will be work, especially work as a decisive factor in the integration of immigrants”.
Each day of the Meeting will be enriched by the contribution of leading personalities from the institutional, cultural, and academic and business worlds, as well as representatives of the Church and of different faiths and cultures. Monsignor Giuseppe Baturi, Metropolitan Archbishop of Cagliari and Secretary General of the Italian Episcopal Conference will give the talk on the Meeting theme on Monday 21 August. Institutional presences will also include the President of the Italian Constitutional Court Silvana Sciarra and the President of the Italian Bishops’ Conference Cardinal Matteo Maria Zuppi, who will talk about the commitment of Pope Francis and the Holy See for social friendship, peace and brotherhood among people.
Important as always are the figures of the event. An area of about 140,000 square meters will be set up at the Rimini Exhibition Centre, which will host one hundred conferences with about 400 Italian and international speakers, 16 will be exhibitions as well as shows, many of which will be held in the city’s Teatro Galli. Spaces for children and young people and for sports will be expanded compared to 2022. The Children’s Village, which will cover an area of 3,700 square meters, has a packed programme that includes exhibitions, meetings, shows and workshops with over a hundred events. Almost 5,000 square metres are reserved for sports, with the historical collaboration of the Italian Sports Centre, plus the unprecedented one of Derthona Basket, which will be present with its champions. The number of volunteers will also increase, exceeding 3,000, and 58% of whom are under the age of 30.
About 140 companies will be partners of the 2023 Meeting: we remember the main partners Intesa Sanpaolo, Tim and Cattolica Assicurazioni (Generali Group), official partners Eni, Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane, Invitalia, Engineering, Confagricoltura, isybank, Ania Foundation, Automobile Club d’Italia, Autostrade per l’Italia, Enel, mobility partner Toyota and communication partner Comin&Partners.
There is also great attention from the institutions: the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation will manage, as usual, an entire pavilion, dedicated to the theme “The Roads of Friendship’”, while the Ministry for the Environment and Energy Security will set up a tree-lined square in Pavilion A1. The presence of the Italian Regions is also very significant: about a dozen of them have chosen the Meeting this year to promote their institutional activities, especially in the tourism, food and wine, environment, and energy sectors.
Today, during the official presentation of the programme, at the Italian Embassy to the Holy See, after the introductory greetings of Ambassador Francesco Di Nitto and the speeches of Bernhard Scholz and Maria Tripodi, speakers also included Sabino Cassese, judge emeritus of the Constitutional Court and professor of Global Governance at the Luiss School of Government, and Micol Forti, curator of the Vatican Museums’ Collection of Modern and Contemporary Art.
Sabino Cassese described the national health service and the national school system as the “irradiation of an amicable relationship in a broader circle, the national one” and spoke of the two thousand or so global regulatory systems as a “form of amicable solidarity with a universal dimension”, stressing that “the fact that the active social participation of Italians is three times greater than active political participation bodes well for the future”.
“The centrality of the role of art and culture in our society is the stimulus to the search for beauty and truth”, Micol Forti recalled in her speech, “the invitation to question our certainties, not to sit back, not to be content. Nothing is taken for granted, everything is risky, but it is only in this way that culture keeps humanity and mystery, beauty and the sense of the sacred alive”.
Useful information on about the event
Starting from today, Tuesday 11 July, on the website www.meetingrimini.org will be published the programme of the conferences, exhibitions, shows, the Children’s Village and the Sports Citadel. Also from today, it will be possible to download from Google Play, App Store and Huawei Store App the Android, iOS and HarmonyOS versions of the Meeting Rimini app, renewed compared to 2022. An application that will be essential for taking part in the event, because it will allow you to physically enter to the Fair from 20 to 25 August, book participation in the conferences and visits to the exhibitions, read the news and access additional content. Admission to the fair, as well as participation in the conferences, exhibitions and other activities at the fair, are free of charge. Parking spaces (9,000 spaces available) will also be free of charge.
