Photo credit: Irena@EXPO2017 via flickr
Two years ago, a new center of cultural life and leisure appeared in the capital of Kazakhstan – the Astana EXPO-2017 exhibition complex. The exhibition attracted significant flows of tourists and citizens – they loved the atmosphere of innovation and knowledge, the festive mood and the international spirit of the event.
Two years after the Astana EXPO-2017 international exhibition, its heritage – exhibition pavilions, first-class infrastructure, rich in smart solutions territory – regularly functions as a center of attraction for tourists, businessmen, investors, innovative scientists and successfully serves the capital’s economy and country.
In the final speech on the closing of the Astana EXPO-2017 exhibition, the first president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazarbayev, noted the importance of the efficient use of the pavilions.
The management of Astana EXPO-2017 National company managed to form an innovative and business ecosystem based on the exhibition infrastructure. Today, the territory of the EXPO is a kind of city of the future, a space of “smart solutions” that is gradually being developed by investors and high-tech companies.
Such projects as the Astana International Financial Center (AIFC), the International Center for Green Technologies and Investment Projects, the Astana Hub International Technology Park for IT Startups, as well as the IT University, which is scheduled to open in September this year, have already been implemented on the territory of EXPO.
A separate element of the intangible heritage of the Astana EXPO-2017 exhibition is its large-scale international promotion, which has become one of the key factors in raising the country’s profile, its tourism and business brand.
Today, two years after the exhibition, the territory of Astana EXPO-2017 provides unique conditions for business and educational tourism, as well as family vacations.
For business travelers, in addition to the totality of financial and technological institutes, the EXPO Business Center with an area of ??35 thousand square meters operates in the territory of Astana EXPO-2017. m with class A offices, and also at the end of this year it is planned to open an International Exhibition Center with an area of ??21 thousand square meters, where the largest international and national exhibitions will be held.
Among the advantages provided to the business at the Astana EXPO-2017 venue are, firstly, the localization in the space of one architectural complex of many international and Kazakhstani companies of various profiles. Developed engineering and IT infrastructure is also important – even at the design stage, the territory of Astana EXPO-2017 was provided with advanced technologies and solutions.
Comfortable conditions for business tourists are created due to the availability of a full range of services, both legal – for example, the AIFC operates the Expat Center, in which foreign citizens can get centralized access to state and other services on a “one-stop-shop” basis – as well as social household: in the territory of "Astana EXPO-2017" there is an electrified post office, banks, restaurants, etc.
In fact, the Astana EXPO-2017 platform is an innovative ecosystem where everything necessary for a successful business and life is literally within walking distance.
This explains why it is becoming more and more popular in business circles for holding business events of various sizes. The Congress Center, which is one of the objects of the EXPO infrastructure, has hosted 180 various events during the year, the largest of which were the XI Astana Economic Forum, the World Mining Congress, and in 2020 the 12th WTO Ministerial Conference is planned. Also, the Congress Center constantly hosts concerts by domestic and foreign pop stars and cultural events of a global scale, for example, the famous COMIC CON festival of pop culture has been successfully held this summer.
No less significant is the role of the Astana EXPO-2017 exhibition complex as a center of education and innovation. Over the past two years, the main object of the EXPO sphere “Nur-Alem” has not stopped its work. A part of scientific installations from the pavilions of Kazakhstan national companies and the Energy of the Future sector moved to it, turning it into a tourist entertainment and scientific-educational center at the same time.
In the last 2018, the sphere was visited by 400 thousand people, 40 thousand of whom were schoolchildren and students from all over the country who studied under the special project Kids & Students Future Energy. The exposition of the sphere is regularly updated with new exhibits in the field of alternative energy, open lessons and lectures are held for schoolchildren and students, shows of achievements of robotics.
A cozy park area, numerous restaurants and cafes create comfortable conditions for leisure for both adults and children. And the shopping and entertainment mall located in the immediate vicinity of Astana EXPO-2017 is also a place for shopping.
Every year, a summer concert venue is built on the territory of the exhibition complex, which hosts various events and concerts. In winter, it is replaced by an ice town, an ice rink and a Christmas tree.
Thus, “Astana EXPO-2017” today is not only a space of business activity, a territory of innovation, creativity, success and advanced technologies, but also a real “city in the city” – self-sufficient and autonomous, with its own developed social and leisure infrastructure, with a comfortable seating area and well-groomed public space.