Baku, Azerbaijan, July 21
By Elena Kosolapova - Trend:
The organization of the international exhibition EXPO-2017, which will be held in Kazakh capital in 2017, will cost about $3 billion, Chairman of the Board of Astana EXPO-2017 National Company Talgat Yermegiyayev told Forbes.kz in an interview.
"Local construction companies such as BI Group Holding, Basis-A Corporation and SredAzElektroMontazh will invest over $500 million. These and other investors will build residential and commercial areas of the complex, entertainment and business centers, car service and a sales center. We are currently negotiating with several other companies," Yermegiyayev sid.
The companies engaged in designing and construction of EXPO facilities will have tax benefits according to the law, he said.
"I guarantee that the project will be paid back - Yermegiyaev said. "Talking that the exhibition will not pay off is only speculation, unsupported by any facts," he said.
He noted that the payback primarily depends on the use of exhibition's objects after the exhibition.
"The President [Nursulatan Nazarbayev] has set the task to use every square meter, and we consider all these points at the design stage. For example, we leave special gaps in the walls in the eight-meters high halls in order to rebuild them into standard offices after the exhibition," Yermegiyaev said.
Money for the object reconstruction after the exhibition has been envisaged, he said.
EXPO-2017 will take place in June-September 2017 in Astana. Around 2-3 million people from more than 100 countries and 10 international organizations are expected to visit the exhibition.
The pavilions of the exhibition are scheduled to take some 25 hectares of space. Future Energy will be the exhibition's main topic.
Edited by T.T.
Organizing EXPO-2017 in Kazakhstan to cost around $3 billion
The organization of the international exhibition EXPO-2017, which will be held in Kazakh capital in 2017, will cost about $3 billion
