On August 1, 2013 the press conference with participation of the Secretary General of the International Exhibitions Bureau (BIE) Vicente Gonzalez Loscertales was held.

Mr. Loscertales presented the outcomes of the working visit to journalists.

During the Secretary General’s visit he was introduced to the issues related to preparation of the Registration Dossier of the International Specialised Exhibition EXPO-2017 to be held in Astana.

On August 1, 2013 Vicente Loscertales had a meeting with the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan Nursultan Nazarbayev.

Other meetings were also held with the Prime Minister of the Republic of Kazakhstan Serik Akhmetov, Minister of Foreign Affairs Erlan Idrisov, Minister of Environmental Protection Nurlan Kapparov, Commisioner of Expo 2017, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Rapil Zhoshybaev.

During the two days we have presented to the General Secretary of the BIE the preliminary working versions of separate chapters belonging to the Registration Dossier. In particular, the post use plan, communication plan, content plan were presented revealing the theme of “Future Energy” and other themes – said Talgat Ermegiayev. Mr Loscertales gave specific recommendations in regards to the completion and improvement of our documents.

Mr. Loscertales noted that the project “Expo” is developing very successfully and the registration of the exhibition will be held in accordance with the stated terms: - I have read the EXPO 2017 Registration Dossier, this document was prepared very well. It will be fundamental in the organisational process of Expo. And I am very pleased to say that all who have worked on this document have done a “great” job, - concluded the Secretary General.

Mr. Loscertales said that that content plan which is a key document on further development of EXPO is very comprehensive and efficient. He outlined the linkage between EXPO-2017 theme and Kazakhstan’s sustainable and “green” policy, as well as stressed its compliance with international community demands. Future Energy is a key environmental priority of both Republic of Kazakhstan and the world.

Another important issue that was outlined by the Secretary General of the BIE is post-EXPO use.

The functionality of the exhibition space is very important for the International Bureau, during the fair itself as well as after its hosting – said Mr. Losceratles. – We cannot consider the project a success without the post- Expo use plan. Inside the dossier presented by Kazakhstan all the demands are met, there is a vision in regards to how the exhibition territory will be integrated into the urban infrastructure.

In conclusion General Secretary Loscertales said: “I hope that with the help of the Exhibition, Kazakhstan will become the center of innovations where the best developments in the field of sustainable energy usage will be collected. And it will become a good example for the whole region, Central Asia and for the rest of the countries around the world, in particular the developing ones.”

Kazakhstan must submit the final version of the dossier to the BIE on autumn 2013.