The Italian economic capital had campaigned on the theme “Feeding the planet, energy for life” and won a high-profile endorsement from former U.S. vice president and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Al Gore. “This is a source of pride for all Italy,” Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said in a statement.

The two main contenders for the prime minister’s job in the April legislative elections also welcomed the news. Former conservative prime minister Silvio Berlusconi congratulated the mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, who is part of his centre-right alliance, the People’s Party for Freedoms (PDL).

Walter Veltroni, the leader of the Democratic Party and Berlusconi’s main rival for the premiership, said in a statement he was “full of joy.”

The Milan Expo will follow on from the one at Shanghai, which is the chosen venue for the 2010 universal exhibition.

Milan won 86 votes against 65 votes for Izmir during a general assembly meeting of the 151-country exhibitions bureau in Paris.

Cheers and screams of joy erupted from the Italian delegation led by the outgoing prime minister Romano Prodi and Moratti herself, who had travelled to Paris to hear the announcement.

Prodi, who said he had spent much of the day on the telephone drumming up votes for Milan, said he was overjoyed by the victory.

Foreign Minister Massimo D’Alema called the news a “great opportunity” for Italy.

Considered among the world’s largest events, along with the Football World Cup and the Olympics, the universal exposition generates huge revenues for host cities and draws tens of millions of visitors during the six-month fair.

Supporters of Milan’s bid pointed to its location in Europe as a major hub and city officials had said they were confident of drawing 30 million visitors to Expo 2015.

Expo 2005, held in Aichi, Japan, welcomed 20 million visitors, while the Spanish city of Zaragoza is set to host Expo 2008 beginning in June, under the theme “water and sustainable development.”

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