Everyone related to the world of two wheels was at the Milan Rho Exhibition Centre on Friday for the official opening of the 67th edition of the EICMA bike show .
Environment Minister Stefania Prestigiacomo represented the Italian Government, with Guidalberto Guidi, the President of ANCMA, Roberto Formigoni, President of the Lombardy region, and Milan transport councillor Eduardo Croci also in attendance.
The new incentives were the main theme of the day and were also the main subject in Prestigiacomo’s speech: “After the boom of the first wave of incentives, the Berlusconi government will make 14 million Euro available for new projects that cover up to 30% of new bikes. It’s a further step forward to promote bike use in Italy”.
During the opening ceremony of the 67th EICMA, Italian Minister for the Environment Stefania Prestigiacomo announced a a very important initiative to motivate people to the everyday use of bicycles. “It is going to be the first National Bicycle Day– the Minister explained – and it will be held on the first Sunday in May 2010. We would like it to be a celebration day for the families, who will have the chance to ride through the city, and a way to motivate people to make a major use of this ecologic means of transportation.”
Aware of the existing gap between the Northern and Southern part of Italy in bicycle usage, the Minister also said “We are willing to do a lot in order to reduce this gap quickly, emphasizing the bicycle’s role in both Italian history and cultural background”.
With bicycle use ever increasing, especially as a means of transport, attention naturally turned to the situation in Milan. “The new products on show at EICMA will hopefully motivate the various institutions to help promote incentives even more, so that the bicycle become a healthy choice of transport” Formigoni said.