On May 7, an Executive Committee meeting was held at the headquarters of the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) in Paris, which included discussions on Kazakhstan’s preparations for EXPO 2017.
Kazakhstan was represented by Commissioner of the International Specialized Exhibition EXPO 2017 and Executive Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rapil Zhoshybayev, Minister of Environmental Protection Nurlan Kapparov, Chairman of the Board of the National Company Astana EXPO 2017 Talgat Yermegiyaev and Ambassador to France Nurlan Danenov.
At the meeting, Zhoshybayev discussed the EXPO 2017 preparation process and shared information on the work that has been conducted over the last five months. He also discussed the formation of the National Company Astana EXPO 2017.
“We hope that holding EXPO 2017 in Astana will accelerate the deepening of the international dialogue and development of joint solutions to the international community’s most pressing challenges,” Zhoshybayev said. Future Energy has been chosen as a theme for the EXPO 2017 exhibition.
The Kazakh officials also presented to the members of the Executive Committee a draft of the land plot allocated for EXPO 2017 and a preliminary master plan of EXPO 2017, including the pavilions plan and plans for the use of buildings and materials created for the EXPO following the event.
Other issues were also included in the agenda of the meeting of the Executive Committee of the BIE. Reports on the preparatory process of EXPO 2015 in Milan, a horticultural exhibition in 2016 in Antalya, Turkey and the results of the report of the Expert Committee on visits to countries seeking to host EXPO 2020 were presented at the meeting. Five countries are seeking to host EXPO 2020, including Turkey (Izmir), Thailand (Ayutthaya), Russia (Yekaterinburg), UAE (Dubai), and Brazil (Sao Paolo).
Astana was elected as the EXPO 2017 International Specialized Exhibition host on Nov.22, 2012 at the 152nd General Assembly of the International Exposition Bureau.
According to previous EXPO statistics, Astana’s EXPO is likely to attract 100 states and participants, including 10 leading international organizations and two to three million visitors during its three-month run from June to September 2017.
