550,000 visit Korea Pavilion at Astana Expo
More than half a million people visited the Korea Pavilion at Expo 2017 Astana, which wrapped up its three-month exhibition on Sunday, Korea Trade Investment Promotion Agency (KOTRA) said.
With the theme of “Future Energy,” the first expo in central Asia attracted 115 countries and 22 international organizations starting June 10 through last week at the capital of Kazakhstan.
Around 4 million people visited the event, which also drew 22 heads of state and 78 ministers from across the world, including Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Korea Pavilion, one of the most popular at the 1,804-square-meter facility, demonstrated unique content such as performances, animated movies and virtual reality.
“Our original goal was to attract 500,000 visitors and critics said that figure was too ambitious. But we reached the bold target and I am happy about that,” a KOTRA official said.
“The Korea Pavilion had the longest queues. Folks waited for up to two hours but they came away satisfied after enjoying our features. Plus, the Korean wave seems to have helped us.”
Korean soap operas and singers are very popular in Kazakhstan, the richest country in central Asia thanks to abundant natural resources such as oil and minerals. Its per capita gross domestic product is around $20,000.
In particular, the Korea Pavilion was on the lips of Kazakhs since Aug. 25 when President Nursultan Nazarbayev visited it.
“The expo is fairly frenetic among Kazakhs because this is the first time for the country to host it. And the Korea Pavilion was the center of popularity,” the official said.
KOTRA President Kim Jae-hong said that the agency would put forth every effort to build better relationships with Kazakhstan and its neighbors on the back of the successful participation in the expo.
“We were able to demonstrate our advanced energy technology and share our vision of future energy sources through this year’s expo,” Kim said.
“On our success at this event, we will encourage our companies to more proactively tap into central Asia. I believe the region is full of growth potential.”