In recent years we Italians have been bombarded by thousands and thousands of news about the all-important international exhibition Expo 2015 which was held from 1 May 2015 until 31 October 2015. For Italy was an outstanding global showcase which brought tremendous opportunities for new jobs, infrastructure, business and much more mainly for the city of Milan.

But ask yourself the question: “Where and when will be the next edition of Expo after that of Milan?“

If you have visited the Expo Milan 2015 you could havd seen with your own eyes that the Kazakhstan pavilion showed the inscription “Kazakhstan 2017”: in fact, the next city to host Expo with its theme “Energy Future” will be the capital Astana from 10 June 2017 till 10 September 2017. You will then see all of the issues related to the energy responsible, sustainable forward thinking.

I have just returned from Astana last week and I have to say that I was really impressed by this beautiful city where the preparations for the upcoming World Expo 2017 in full swing and every corner of the city recalls this mega event to be held in this new city and in a country relatively unknown. The success of the Expo is estimated to take about 5 million visitors and definitely will help the whole world to discover Kazakhstan and mainly its capital Astana, which in my opinion is comparable to a small Dubai without sea.

Some information about “Astana Expo 2017”
(Kazakh / Russian “Астана ЭКСПО-2017”)

3 MONTHS FOR EXPO 2017
The opening of Expo 2017 Astana will run for three months from June 10 to September 10, 2017

SIZE EXHIBITION
If Milan has dedicated about 110 hectares, here in Astana the total area of the exposition is 174 hectares, of those 25 hectares will accommodate the following EXPO facilities: National Pavilion; Best Practices Area Pavilion; international pavilions for more than 100 countries of the world; thematic pavilions which will demonstrate evolution of the exposition theme. Overall, 38 facilities will be built within the exposition area.

ENERGY THEME
The theme of exposition – Future Energy, will help Kazakhstan to develop innovations, which include green technologies based on new fundamental discoveries, new physics, developments of Nikola Tesla. Exposition facilities built for this event will further form part of Astana.

A HALL WORLD
Contrary to what happened in Milan, participating countries will be collected in a single World Pavilion. Here, each State is invited to make its contribution to energy efficiency.

WORKS
The peak of construction and installation work will occur in 2015, with all work to be generally completed in October 2016. Then participant countries will start installation and furnishing of their pavilions.Domestic companies are involved in EXPO construction to the maximum extent possible. 50 to 100 small and medium-size companies from Kazakhstan are expected to be engaged in construction. At present, over 3500 employees work at the construction site, and this number will further grow. The total number of employees working at the facilities at the finishing phase will reach 10,000. Most of them will be Kazakhstan nationals.
I have personally visited the area the 2 October 2016 and I can say that about 85% -90% of the site where you will ‘Expo’ already ‘been realized.

SYMBOL OF EXPO 2017
The symbol of EXPO-2017 will be the pavilion of Kazakhstan in the form of the biggest complete sphere in the world: diameter of 80 meters and 26 thousand square meters of volume. In addition to the Museum of the Future, The Sphere will accommodate a museum telling the history of the country and the history of Kazakhstan nations. To-date, foundation for this building has been completed.

PARTICIPATING COUNTRIES
As of today, 104 countries and 17 international organizations have officially confirmed their participation in EXPO-2017, including Italy, Russia, Germany, Japan, Turkey, Israel, France, India and many others. Each participating country it’s depicted in the center of Astana with a little man with the colors of their flag and some important national monuments.

 

Impact of EXPO-2017 on the Development of Kazakhstan and Astana

As an outcome of this exposition, Astana may become an efficient forum for demonstration of the best world’s developments and trends in the area of utilizing solar, wind, biogas, marine current and thermal water energy. It will present the best knowhow, groundbreaking and advanced projects in the area of conventional and alternative energy generation and consumption.
Facilities built for EXPO will help Kazakhstan in future to be regarded as a large international exposition, information and presentation forum.
Particular focus is made on post-exposition use of EXPO facilities. Each foot is planned as early as now, at the design stage. For example, spaces with the height of 8 meters have special inter-floor beams in the walls, so that they could further be reconstructed into standard office spaces. Funds have already been budgeted for the post-exposition refurbishment of the facilities.

EXPO History for Kazakhstan

The history of EXPO for Kazakhstan dates back to 2008, when Kazakhstan`s delegation headed by President of the country Nursultan Nazarbayev visited EXPO World’s Fair in Zaragoza, Spain. Just like a century ago, expositions continue to generate and consolidate brilliant scientific innovations, provide an impetus to the development of host countries and cities and generally become a powerful incentive for economic development of the countries.

• 2010: Vicete Loscertales, Secretary General of BIE, first visited our country in order to have an initial discussion of any matters relating to specific plans of Kazakhstan with respect to exposition with the leadership of the country. One year later, Kazakhstan filed an application to host EXPO, where its major competitor was Liege, Belgium.
• 14 March 2012: President of Kazakhstan had a meeting in Astana with the Expert Commission of the Bureau of International Expositions, at which he reiterated that implementation of EXPO-2017 is the national project for Kazakhstan.
  “Today, we are happy to demonstrate capabilities of our country as an applicant for 2017 exposition. We are fully committed to preparation and implementation of EXPO-2017, in case of favorable resolution of the Commission. Let us deem the national project”, – noted President of the Republic of Kazakhstan.
  It is worth noting that Liege was a very serious competitor – Belgium has previous experience of hosting international expositions, stable political system and well-established diplomatic relations with other countries. What concerns members of the Bureau of International Expositions is that Kazakhstan is the first country in the post-Soviet area applying for the right to host exposition.
  The turning point from the decision-making perspective was EXPO International Conference in 2012, the participants of which were surprised with the scope of construction, pace and opportunities of Astana development.
• 22 November 2012: Ballot vote held in the BIE headquarters in Paris at the 152nd session of the General Assembly of the Bureau of International Expositions. Astana surpassed Liege with a big edge of 103 votes.
• 22 October 2013: Evaluation of results of the international architectural tender for the best design concept of EXPO-2017 exposition center. More than 50 architects from around the world submitted their bids for the best design tender. The best design was selected from 10 shortlisted bids; Adrian Smith + Gordon Gill Architecture LLP, US presented it. Their advantage is that, in addition to extensive construction experience, this company is also experienced in the area of green economy.
• 24 April 2014: President Nazarbayev laid a capsule within the territory of future Exposition Center EXPO-2017, which symbolized commencement of construction. According to regulations of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) EXPO construction is not to be started prior to handover of the flag. However, due to severe weather conditions in Astana, BIE responded favorably and the following preparatory work started immediately after laying of the capsule: reclamation, fencing of the area, laying of utility networks, etc.
• 21 May 2014: Conference EXPO-2017 – Energy for Sustainable Development was held as part of the VII Astana Economic Forum. It was the first public event related to preparation for EXPO-2017 involving both Kazakhstan and international community.
• 11 June 2014: Kazakhstan was officially handed the flag of EXPO-2017 in Paris at the 155th session of the General Assembly of the BIE.
• 14 June 2014: BIE approved registration dossier of Astana for the implementation of EXPO-2017. The registration dossier is a final plan for the implementation of exposition, which includes all technical documents for exposition facilities, detailed design, schedule of engineering and construction, communication plan, etc.
• 22 October 2014: Astana organized the first meeting of international participants of EXPO-2017. Representatives from over 70 countries of the world were invited to take part in that meeting; they were sent official invitations to participate in EXPO. Forum “Future Energy: Reduction of СО2 Emissions” was held as part of this meeting, the attendance exceeded 200 people.
  Vicente Loscertales, Secretary General of the BIE, has been visiting Astana twice a year in order to inspect EXPO facilities under construction. During his last visit that took place on March 19, 2015, Vicente Loscertales noted that the construction was ahead of schedule.
  
  
  

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