Expo 2017: Global showcase for culture, technology, arts

The meeting was also attended by the BIE Secretary General Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales, representatives from Belgium, also bidding for hosting an international expo in 2017 in the city of Liege, from Turkey and Thailand whose cities of Izmir and Ayutthaya submitted their applications for the World's Fair 2020, the Kazakh MFA reports.

In the course of the friendly meeting, participants shared information and exchanged views on the preparation activities for an expo in 2017 as well as coordination of actions by Astana and Liege. The parties discussed issues related to the degree of preparedness of the cities for an expo. They also considered issues to be discussed at the 150^th and 151^st sessions of the BIE General Assembly.

The theme proposed by Kazakhstan "Energy of the Future" underscores the commitment of the country to sustainable development through alternative energy which needs new investment and technologies. Hosting an expo in Kazakhstan will open up opportunities for the country to demonstrate its potential. It is also hoped that Astana could become a perfect platform for the demonstration of world's leading trends and developments in this sphere.

In Kazakhstan, holding an expo is viewed as yet another national project. Like expo, the new capital of Kazakhstan Astana itself has been often described as a success project since the country gained independence 20 years ago. The city, home to diverse cultures and unique inter-faith and inter-ethnic mix, is an ultimate metropolis of the 21^st century which is indeed in the position to lead by example.