President of Austria invited to attend EXPO-2017 in Astana

Mr. Zhoshybayev had a meeting with Bernadette Gierlinger, the Deputy Minister at the Austrian Federal Ministry for Science, Research and Economy, on the sidelines of the Vienna Economic Forum. During the meeting the sides debated state and prospects of development of bilateral commercial and economic cooperation between Kazakhstan and Austria as well as participation of Austrian companies in the EXPO-2017 event. The First Deputy Foreign Minister of Kazakhstan informed Ms Gierlinger of preparations for the exhibition and handed an invitation from President Nursultan Nazarbayev to President of Austria Heinz Fischer to attend the event in 2017. Mr. Zhoshybayev expressed hope that Austria, as one of the global leaders in terms of development of alternative and renewable energy sources, will take active part in EXPO-2017 in Kazakhstan. Ms Gierlinger, in turn, confirmed Austria's interest in the upcoming Expo event in Astana. As a result, it was agreed that Austria's participation in EXPO-2017 will be discussed at the forthcoming session of the Kazakhstani-Austrian intergovernmental commission in 2015.