Astana continues preparations for EXPO-2017

Preparation for the International exhibition EXPO that will be held in Astana in 2017 is proceeding well, reports the IA BNews.kz. Kazakhstan is attracting more and more countries to participate at the exhibition by developing and launching new perspective projects.

It is also noted that there are 17 states that have already confirmed their participation in EXPO-2017: Azerbaijan, Angola, Armenia, Belarus, Germany, Georgia, India, Kyrgyzstan, Monaco, Russia, Senegal, Saint-Keats and Nevis, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Israel and Turkey. Besides, it is known that there will be 3 international organizations at the exhibition – ESCATO, OECD and UNIDO.
In total, the EXPO-2017 is expecting participation of more than 100 countries and around 10 international organizations.

Also, there are steps done for development of tourism sphere. Thus, a pilot project on introduction of visa-free regime for citizens of ten countries of the world was launched: USA, the Netherlands, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Malaysia, UAE, Korea and Japan. During one year, citizens of these countries can enter Kazakhstan without visa for 15 calendar days. The aim of the project is to rectify shortcomings and administrative barriers in existing system as well as evaluate the level of readiness for the touristic sphere of Kazakhstan to face the increase in the tourist flow. It is planned for the future to extend the list of the countries, whose citizens will be able to have no-visa entry to the Republic of Kazakhstan, and the maximal length of stay for tourists will be increased.