5 NOVEMBER 2010 | KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

 

One of Afghanistan’s greatest strengths lies in its booming agriculture sector.  The nearly 35,000 international and Afghan visitors who streamed into the Kabul International AgFair 2010 showed that the world is ready for Afghanistan’s cashmere, nuts, and fresh and dried fruit.  Opened by U.S. Ambassador Karl W. Eikenberry and Afghan Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock Asif Rahimi, the AgFair generated almost $2 million in business deals and attracted business representatives from as far away as the United States and Australia.

 

“You have come at the perfect time,” Minister Rahimi told an audience of Afghan government officials, diplomats, and businesspeople from Afghanistan and around the world at the opening ceremony.  “Global demand for Afghan products is big and grows larger every day.”

 

Ambassador Eikenberry echoed the optimism, recalling childhood memories of Afghan raisins sold at U.S. supermarkets and lauding the comeback of the country’s agricultural sector.  He noted that the U.S. Government, through USAID, was proud to support the AgFair and the Afghan agriculture sector as a whole.

 

The Kabul International AgFair 2010 featured 174 booths showcasing a range of products and services from companies in agriculture processing and production, textiles, livestock, renewable energy, transportation and logistics, packaging and printing, banking and finance, and leather goods.

 

More than 40 business representatives from Argentina, India, Singapore, Tajikistan, the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, China, Singapore, Australia, the Netherlands, and the United Arab Emirates participated in the event.

 

Early findings showed that participants negotiated 10 deals totaling $1,969,000 at business-to-business sessions at the AgFair, and 15 potential deals worth $12,100,233 are being pursued.

 

Throughout the event, farmers, students, businesspeople, and the public attended seminars at the Productivity Center to learn about the latest agricultural technologies and methods.  Afghan families enjoyed vendors, restaurants, playgrounds, dancing, music, demonstration plots, greenhouses, livestock, and live wool and carpet weaving demonstrations at the event.