ASTANA – The United Nations opened its EXPO 2017 pavilion during the expo’s recent UN Day celebrations. Kazakhstan was named in January a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.
“Today, we are witnessing a great event. The expo has become an important event. For Kazakhstan, this organisation is of paramount importance. We will do our best for the development of our country’s cooperation with the UN,” Kassym-Zhomart Tokayev, chairperson of the Senate of Parliament of Kazakhstan said during the opening ceremony.
U.N. EXPO Commissioner and Assistant Secretary-General of the organisation Cihan Sultanoglu said during the event that the expo’s goals are similar to those of the United Nations.
“The U.N. is grateful to Kazakhstan for the formal invitation to expo… The main theme of the exhibition has very similar tasks, set by the United Nations. Energy is the key to solving many problems, such as poverty and climate change,” he said.
Sultanoglu also urged governments and employers to step up their efforts to accelerate the transition to clean energy.
Other speakers said the expo could help speed the search for solutions to environmental challenges.
Other events on UN Day at the expo included presentations from participants in the International Organisations Pavilion. The pavilion hosts nine UN organisations showcasing their work in energy and sustainable development.
Kazakhstan is the first Central Asian nation to sit on the UN Security Council.
