Source: China Business News Network.
During a meeting between United Nations Under-Secretary-General Shamshad Akhtar and Rapil Zhoshybayev, commissioner of Expo 2017, the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, ESCAP, announced its support for Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev's proposal to establish an International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects under United Nations support, based on Expo 2017 Astana.
The plan to build the International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects was first proposed by the Kazakh president at the 70th United Nations General Assembly. It matches the urgent demand among countries at the assembly for the concept of green economic development.
The ESCAP executive secretary said the organization would provide full support for the establishment of the organization and the center in Astana and would participate in all related projects. Akhtar also suggested that a special ESCAP meeting be organized during Expo 2017 Astana to display and promote the Asia-Pacific Energy Portal, an online training platform dedicated to sustainable energy and green development.
Kazakhstan's energy minister Vladimir Shkolnik emphasized that Expo 2017 Kazakhstan would be held from June 10 to September 10 next year under the theme Future Energy. Astana would then become an ideal platform for displaying the application, development and trends of sustainable energy such as solar energy, light energy, biogas, ocean energy and geothermal energy.
The green economy is one of the development priorities in China's 13th Five-Year Plan. At the same time, China will participate in Expo 2017 Astana next year and attaches great importance to its participation, making it one of the most important participating countries at the expo. The China Pavilion theme is Future Energy, Green Silk Road. Future Energy refers to China's focus on looking to the future, making effective use of traditional energy, developing new energy, solving the energy crisis and promoting sustainable energy development, which are the key points and highlights of the China Pavilion. Green Silk Road implies the historical origins and future goals of economic, trade and cultural exchanges between China and Central Asia and the wider Eurasian region.
Alen Chairunusov, head of tourism promotion at Astana Expo, said that Expo 2017 Astana is expected to attract five million visitors, of whom 85 percent will be Kazakh citizens and 15 percent foreign tourists. It is predicted that half of the foreign tourists will come from CIS countries and China.
According to reports, 106 countries have confirmed participation in the expo, and the total number is expected to exceed 110.