Press releases

MINSK, 17 December (BelTA) – Belarus have started preparing its national exposition for Expo 2017 in Astana, Gleb Martynov, the head of the department coordinating the activities related to expos, fairs, and congresses at the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said on 17 December during the press conference on Belarus’ participation in international expos and the expansion of the country’s trade and economic activities, BelTA has learned.

“Belarus has confirmed its willingness to organize a national exposition at the international exhibition Expo 2017 in Astana that will be devoted to energy-related matters. A special organizing committee has been set up. It has already started working on the national exposition,” Gleb Martynov noted.

He said that such expos are large-scale events, and they usually involve the construction of national pavilions. “This is why we need time and resources, and the preparations require a professional approach,” Gleb Martynov explained. He emphasized that such events are very important for enhancing the image of the country. “Let us take, for example, Expo Milano 2015. According to the preliminary information provided by the organizers, the expo was attended by some 21 million people. The Belarusian pavilion welcomed around two million guests. The figure is enormous. We cannot compare it with any other expo,” Gleb Martynov stressed.

All in all, Belarus took part in eleven large-scale foreign expos and fairs in 2015. “Nine Belarus’ national expositions were organized abroad, including the expositions at the International Green Week in Berlin, the expo in Hannover, and the expo of goods from the countries of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization in China. Besides, we organized two fairs of Belarusian products, one in Sochi and another in Ashgabat,” Gleb Martynov noted.

Vitaly Gritsevich, the deputy head of the division for regional cooperation, expos, fairs, and logistics at the Trade Ministry of Belarus, said that the Belarusian expo in Ashgabat showcased 200 new goods. “Some 15 Belarusian companies displayed their products in Turkmenistan for the first time,” he added.

“Contracts to the tune of $10.5 million were signed in Ashgabat. I would like to say that an expo is not a shop where people come and leave their money. An expo is a platform for establishing contacts, studying products, and building image. Some time has to pass to evaluate the effectiveness of such events,” noted Yevgeny Vvedensky, the director of Belinterexpo Company of the Belarusian Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

“Apart from the traditional exhibition platforms in the countries of the CIS and Europe, our companies display products in more distant countries. For example, in 2015 Belarusian delegations took part in expos in Cambodia, China, Brazil, Egypt, Qatar, Canada, and the United States,” said Pavel Vzyatkin, the deputy head of the division for foreign economic activity, the head of the export promotion division of the department for foreign economic activity at the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.