Paris, France (November 8, 2012) — On Monday 5 November, 154,931 signatures collected during the Belgian public petition campaign were sent to the Bureau International des Expositions. The members of the Belgian team arrived in the early afternoon with boxes of signatures under their arms. Willy Demeyer (Mayor of the City of Liège), Michel Firket (Vice-President of Liège Expo 2017) and Jean-Christophe Peterkenne (CEO of Liège Expo 2017) were able to hand deliver these signatures to the Secretary General of the BIE Vicente Loscertales. The signatures were physically collected at over 150 events in Belgium , giving staff the opportunity to meet Belgian citizens and explain the ins and outs of Liège Expo 2017. In addition, over 40,000 signatures were collected virtually via the Internet.
Meanwhile, on 18 October 2012 the Kazakh film Astana Expo 2017: The Great Expectation of Kazakhstan, made at the request of the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade of Kazakhstan was awarded the second-place prize – a silver dolphin – in the Corporate Films category of the annual Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards festival in Cannes. The film was made to promote the bid by Astana for the right to host the International Exhibition EXPO 2017.
IPM News will provide continuing coverage of the two EXPO 2017 candidate city bids through the BIE decision next month.
