(AGI) Milan, June 26 - The Burgermusik Mittersill officiallyopened the celebrations of Austria's National Day at the MilanExpo. The traditional town band of Mittersill, in the provinceof Salzburg, accompanied by the Blaserensemble Federspiel brassensemble in their customary Austrian costumes, performedtraditional music and played the national anthems. The largeAustrian delegation was headed by Federal President Dr HeinzFischer, and comprised the Deputy Chancellor and EconomyMinister, Reinhold Mitterlehner, and the Minister ofAgriculture, Forestry and the Environment, Andrea Rupprechter. The official celebration was also attended by the ItalianGovernment's Sole Commissioner for Expo 2015, Giuseppe Sala,and the Foreign Ministry Undersecretary, Benedetto dellaVedova. "The Expo is an opportunity during which to tackleissues of global relevance through the comparison of solutionsand best practices offered by governments and the privatesector," said Mr Della Vedova, while President Fischerhighlighted the excellent relations established between the twocountries. "Italy is our second-largest commercial partner andtrade for 2014 ranged between 16.3 and 16.8 billion euros,"said President Fischer. "The (Milan) Expo offers theopportunity to consolidate relations that are alreadyexcellent, in addition to highlighting fundamental issues likethe environment, the climate and energy," said Dr Fischer. Headded: "This inspired Austria to create its pavilion: the ideaof showing living trees inside the facility conveys the messageof how important forests are for global climate." At theend of the ceremony, the Austrian delegation walked along theDecuman to the Austrian Pavilion, making a stop at PalazzoItalia. The celebrations continued with a series of additionalevents at the Milan Triennale and La Scala theatre. (AGI). .