World Champion Austria
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Companies introduce themselves
The EXPO lets Kazakhstan blossom About 100 countries and international organisations will participate in the next world’s fair 2017 in Kazakhstan. The country and its guests will benefit strongly from the EXPO in Astana and its official theme “Future Energy”. Kazakhstan, the world’s ninth largest country, is led by President Nursultan Nazarbayev since its independence in 1991. Thanks to his initiative, Kazakhstan held the OSCE chairmanship in 2010, hosted the Asian Winter Games in 2011 and now the EXPO 2017. The country is a member of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and has a partner treaty in place with the European Union to open the country for tourism, among other things. “90 percent of our trade is done with other WTO countries,” President Nazarbayev says. Measured by the gross domestic product, Kazakhstan’s economy is Central Asia’s fourth largest economy. Especially since the turn of the millennium, there has been a clear upwards trend: The economy grew since 1999 by 9.3 percent (!) on average. In Central Asia, Kazakhstan stands out as a role model for transition economy and leaves all other countries in the region in its trail. The country’s economic situation keeps on improving and President Nazarbayev increasingly promotes foreign direct investments. At the World Economic Forum 2016 in Davos Kazakhstan increased its efforts to attract investments; the low oil price is an ideal precondition. Going by the motto “With brains, heart and brawns”, Austria is presenting a creative kaleidoscope of participative solutions for global energy and environment issues at the world’s fair in Kazakhstan. About 20 installations show ingenuity, creativity and consequence from Austria and make the complex topic that is energy understandable in a playful and non-verbal way. The Austrian participation takes place with a total budget of 4.8 million euros that come from the Federal Ministry for Science, Research und Economy and the Austrian Economic Chamber. https://expo2017astana.com/en www.expoaustria.at
The EXPO shows Kazakhstan’s creative potential Kazakhstan has large reserves of crude oil, natural gas, black coal, tin, uranium, lead, zinc, bauxite, iron, gold, silver, phosphor, manganese, copper and agricultural raw materials such as crops (mainly wheat). The EXPO is seen as a great opportunity for the country to further its economic development. The official theme “Future Energy” with its three main topics “Reducing CO2 Emissions”, “Living Energy Efficiency” and “Energy for all” will help to raise awareness for energy in Kazakhstan and the entire world. The country aims to build more than 100 new wind parks, solar and photo voltaics power plants by 2020. Kazakhstan wants to increase its share of renewable energies significantly: The goal is to achieve five percent of the total power generation by 2050. “The world’s fair is a signal to people, organisations and nations across borders to work together on the global challenges of the future,” says President Nazarbayev. Up to five million visitors from all over the world are expected between 10 June and 10 September 2017. The EXPO will give an extraordinary strong impulse to the economy’s system diversification and bring technological advancement, Nazarbayev stresses. The infrastructure in Astana and the entire country will further improve strongly – this also affects the development of the middle class and of SMEs, of tourism and the service sector in general. After the fair, the unique buildings in Astana will be turned into an innovative financial centre and the Nazarbayev University. The EXPO 2017 is thus a unique opportunity for the entire country and will “make Kazakhstan blossom”.