On 7 May 2013, the Executive Committee of the Bureau of International Expositions (BIE) met in Paris at the organisation’s headquarters.
The Kazakhstani side was represented by the Commissioner for the International Speicalized Exhibition EXPO-2017, Secretary General of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Rapil Zhoshybayev; Minister of Environmental Protection Nurlan Kapparov; Chairman of the Board of Astana EXPO-2017 NC JSC Talgat Yermegiyaev and Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Republic of Kazakhstan in France Nurlan Danenov.

Speaking at the meeting, Rapil Zhoshybayev talked about the organisational factors of the preparation for and realisation of EXPO-2017, shared information on the work done in the past 5 months, and on the creation of the joint stock company Astana EXPO-2017 National Company. In particular, he noted in his speech: “We hope that the realisation of EXPO-2017 will become a catalyst for deepening dialog and working out joint solutions within the framework of the international community for the most pressing challenges.”
Chairman of the Board of Astana EXPO-2017 NC JSC, Talgat Yermegiyaev opened up discussion among the members of the Exec. Committee on information about the territory allocated for EXPO-2017, a preliminary master plan of EXPO-2017, including the layout of the pavilions and the planned use for the EXPO facilities after the exposition is over.

The order of business at the meeting of the Executive Committee of the BIE also touched on other issues: reports were heard on the preparation process for EXPO 2015 in Milan, the Horticultural Expo in Antalya in 2016 and from the Expert Committee that visited the countries bidding for EXPO-2020. Be reminded that 5 different countries are battling to host the exposition in 2020: Turkey (Izmir), Thailand (Ayutthaya), Russia (Yekaterinburg), UAE (Dubai) and Brazil (São Paolo).