Paris – November 22, 2012 – At the conclusion of the voting procedure the delegates of the BIE’s member states selected Astana (Kazakhstan) as the official host of the International Expo in 2017. The choice between two candidates – Belgium (Liège) and Kazakhstan (Astana) – has been made during the 152nd General Assembly of the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE).
Kazakhstan received 103 votes. Belgium received 44 votes. (1 abstention)
Expo 2017 will be hosted between June 10 and September 10, 2017, on the site of 25 ha. The organizers expect it will be visited by over 5 million people from all over the world. Kazakhstan proposed “Future Energy” as the theme of Expo 2017. Nowadays, the world is facing a shortage of energy with a threat of environmental crisis, which raises a real challenge in conserving traditional energies and finding alternative energies. As oil production is declining and its value increases gradually, in the near future, a large amount of population will have to shift to alternative energy. The Expo will serve as a platform for exchanging experiences all over the world in the filed of alternative energy, a sector that is growing rapidly these years.
Astana, capital of the young nation, was awarded the “City of Peace” UNESCO reward. Kazakhstan is the first nation in central Asia to submit an application for a specialized international Expo. Organizing an Expo in Astana is another step on Kazakhstan’s plan in renewing economy type based on environmental friendly clean energy resources.