Kazakhstan minister visits Europe to discuss EXPO 2017

Kazakhstan’s first Deputy Foreign Minister and EXPO Commissioner, Rapil Zhoshybayev, will visit Austria and France this week to discuss EXPO 2017.

It will be the first time in the 130-year history of universal exhibitions, that an EXPO will take place in Central Asia, in Astana, Kazakhstan. The country and region will uphold the tradition of enterprise, imagination, industry, art and entertainment.

The organisation of such a high-tech exhibition as EXPO 2017 will provide a unique opportunity to maximise the economic and infrastructural development of Kazakhstan’s capital city, and to create a lasting legacy for its citizens and for visitors from all around the world.

Preparations for the International Specialised Exhibition EXPO 2017 are going well. In June 2014, during the 155th General Assembly of the International Exhibition Bureau in Paris, Kazakhstan received its official EXPO flag.

Commissioner Zhoshybayev commented: “The exhibition will become a platform for the discussion and presentation of innovation in world energy, and will showcase the best technology in the hydrocarbon field, in energy saving and alternative sources of energy.”

The President of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, in his recent State of the Nation Address, emphasised that in preparation for EXPO 2017 the transport infrastructure of Astana will be improved and modernised in order to accommodate the thousands of people expected to visit.

Work is proceeding on the intercity transport network as is the construction of roads and a new five-storey railway station. Astana airport is being enlarged, and tourist facilities, including new hotels, are being built to meet the needs of international visitors.

In April, the President announced that work had begun on the construction of the unique Exhibition complex ‘Astana EXPO 2017’. The complex will consist of pavilions for the international participants, corporate and themed pavilions, childrens’ pavilions, a concert hall, congress-centre, and a multifunctional trade and entertainment complex. Most impressive of all will be the Kazakhstan national pavilion.

The Pavilion of Kazakhstan will be designed in the shape of a circle and will be the first and only building in the world to take the shape of a complete sphere, 80 m in diameter.

The Secretary General of the International Exhibition Bureau (IEB), Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, added: “It is worth noting that in 25 years of my job, I have never witnessed such speedy and high level work. I am sure that the upcoming exhibition EXPO 2017 will be a success.”

Zhoshybayev concluded: “Holding the EXPO in the heart of the Eurasian continent is a new step in the economic life of not only Astana and Kazakhstan, but also the CIS region as a whole. We will make every effort ensure that our EXPO becomes one of the most high-tech exhibitions ever.”

Adapted from press release by Katie Woodward

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