Angela Merkel officially invited to EXPO-2017 event in Astana

This was announced at a press conference following negotiations between Foreign Affairs Minister of Kazakhstan Erlan Idrissov and his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Astana on Monday. Minister Idrissov noted that Germany is one of the key partners of Kazakhstan in Europe and in the world. "Recent years were quite eventful and effective in terms of reciprocal visits, contacts between our ministries and business circles," he said. During the meeting, E.Idrissov told his German colleague about the preparations for the International specialized EXPO-2017 event in Kazakhstan's capital and handed a letter from President Nursultan Nazarbayev to German Chancellor Angela Merkel with the official invitation to attend the exhibition. He also noted that Germany was one of the first countries to confirm participation in the grandiose event. Earlier it was reported that Mr. Steinmeier is on official visit to Kazakhstan.