During the meeting, the Head of the State was informed about the EXPO-2017 progress, and proposals were made for further use of the exhibition facilities.
A.Yessimov presented to the President of Kazakhstan the data on the number of visitors to the exhibition and attendance of exhibition pavilions.
- Over period of three months, 2 million people should have visited the exhibition. To date, this figure is 2.5 million visitors. The number of visits to international pavilions was meant to be at least 5 million, now it has reached the mark of 20 million. The most popular pavilion among visitors is the sphere of "Nur Alem". As of today, 831 thousand tourists have been to it. It is expected that by the end of the exhibition this indicator will reach the level of 1 million. Since opening, 68 National Days have been held at EXPO-2017. In addition, 106 high-ranking guests visited the exhibition, including 19 heads of state, 16 prime ministers and their deputies, 11 heads of parliaments and their deputies, 60 ministers and their deputies. About $ 100 million was spent by foreign countries to prepare their pavilions, the Chairman of “Astana EXPO-2017” JSC Board said.
Nursultan Nazarbayev was also informed about a noticeable growth of indicators in the sphere of tourism. So, according to A.Yessimov, the number of hotels and hostels in Astana has grown by 27%, the occupancy rate of which reaching 60%.
The Head of the State stressed the positive multiplicative effect of holding the international exhibition for the capital city’s development and the country's economy as a whole.
- The EXPO has positively affected almost all economic sectors. The number of tourists in hotels and places of public catering has increased. Due to that, the capital’s budget has received additional funds. New jobs have been opened. 196 Kazakhstani companies took part in the construction of the exhibition complex. That is about 200 thousand people. Now there are about 21 thousand people working for the exhibition, the President of Kazakhstan said.
During the meeting, the Chairman of “Astana EXPO-2017” JSC Board presented information on the savings of funds allocated for the exhibition’s preparation and conduct. According to A.Yessimov, construction costs according to the feasibility study amounted to 816 billion tenge, later, due to optimization, this amount decreased to 452 billion tenge.
In addition, Nursultan Nazarbayev was offered a proposal for post-exhibition use of EXPO-2017 facilities. In particular, the location of Astana International Financial Centre, the park of IT-start-ups, as well as the preservation of a number of exhibition pavilions as an EXPO heritage are in the planning stage to be provided for in the exhibition territory.
At the end of the meeting, the Head of the State, mentioning the Chairman’s work, has given a number of specific instructions.
