Spain and Portugal to help Kazakhstan prepare for EXPO-2017

Spain and Portugal will cooperate with Kazakhstan in preparation for the EXPO-2017, KazTAG reports citing Kazakhstan Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov. “I think that our Portuguese and Spanish friends heard our message about the EXPO-2017. We agreed to work closely together on development of our event,” Idrissov told the journalists on the sidelines of Kazakhstan-Portugal business seminar in Lisbon on Wednesday. Kazakhstan Foreign Minister reminded that Spain hosted the exhibitions two times in Seville and Saragossa, while Portugal hosted it in Lisbon in 1998. “They have a huge experience in EXPO. They had their own concepts. It was helpful to visit the EXPO zone in Lisbon. It is very important, especially for Kazakhstan, to see the post-EXPO situation,” head of Kazakhstan Foreign Ministry said. Idrissov said that the exhibition territory is currently a separate developed center in the city. “All that (infrastructure) is functioning and has become part of Lisbon. International events are held there. We should look into this prospect [of further use of the exhibition facilities],” he added. Idrissov visited the Nations Park in Lisbon, where the EXPO-98 was held. The exhibition’s topic was The Oceans, a Heritage for the Future. It was timed to the 500th anniversary of the Vasco da Gama’s discovery of a sea route to India. During his official visit to Spain Idrissov also discussed the EXPO-2017 with Executive Director of the UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Zoltan Somogyi and Spanish Senate speaker Pio Garcia-Escudero Marquez. Astana won the bid to host the EXPO-2017. Kazakhstan’s main competitor was the Belgian city of Liege. Astana got 103 votes, while Liege received only 44. The Energy of the Future was chosen as the subject of the exhibition in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan authorities expect that the exhibition in Astana will be visited by around 5 million people. Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev declared the year 2017 when the EXPO will be hosted a year of Chinese tourism in Kazakhstan. The official visit of Foreign Minister Idrissov to Spain started on May 13 and was followed by the trip to Portugal on May 14-16.