India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) a trade promotion arm of the Commerce Ministry to partake in the Astana Expo 2017 to be held in June for which ITPO has signed a participation contract with Kazakstan.

The national pavilion will showcase diverse export potential of India in sectors such as textile, handicrafts, leather, science & technology, industry, agriculture, automobiles, IT, gems and jewelery.

The Department of Commerce, has approved subsidy of worth Rs 12 crore under the Market Access Initiative (MAI) support to encourage the participation of India companies, ITPO said in a statement.

Rapil Zhoshybayev, First Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and Commissioner of Expo Authorities Kazakstan, said that the event would also help in boosting the trade ties with India. The bilateral trade between the countries has touched USD 1 billion last year.

There is a huge scope of joint collaborations to meet the need of future generation, ITPO said quoting Zhoshybayev.

More than 100 countries and 10 international organizations are expected to participate in the three month long expo. Around 2-3 million people are expected to visit the international pavilions. The theme of the Expo 2017 will be 'Future Energy'.

Twenty five hectares is planned for the pavilions of Astana Expo 2017, an International Exposition that is scheduled to begin from June 10 in 2017 and run till September 2017 in Astana, Kazakhstan.