2009/03,11
The Mazari Sharif International AgFair and Cashmere Exhibition drew an estimated 27,500 national and international participants eager to explore agribusiness deals in one of the fastest growing agricultural markets in Central Asia and learn the newest techniques in crop production and cashmere harvesting.
The AgFair, held from March 11-13 at the Mechaniza-i-Zeraati Fairgrounds in Mazari Sharif, featured 94 booths and 10 tents representing exhibitors such as GTZ, the Afghan Cashmere Supply Co., the Afghan Women’s Agricultural Association and Noor Improved Seeds Co. The opening day of the fair featured speakers including General Ata Mohammad Noor, the Governor of Balkh province; H.E. Mr. Mohammad Asif Rahimi, the Minister of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock; and Mr. Charles Drilling, the Deputy Mission Director of USAID.
The AgFair held a series of business-to-business meetings on March 12-13 to match international buyers with Afghan suppliers to facilitate deals and stimulate the Afghan agriculture sector. Cashmere buyers representing companies from Italy, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, Switzerland and the United States; a fruit and vegetable buyer from India; and a buyer from a Chinese herbal medicine trading business represented the international community at the meetings. Information on business deals or potential business deals is still being collected, but international buyers said the AgFair represented a unique opportunity to explore business opportunities in Afghanistan.
“This event has opened up my eyes and will open others’ eyes as well – and that will open up business,” said David Lee, the director of Cashmere Fibres International Ltd. in the United Kingdom. “Afghanistan’s cashmere business has been controlled by intermediaries in the past. We haven’t had a chance to hear from the herdsmen, and they haven’t had a chance to hear from the international buyers. Now we can build on personal relationships, and that’s how good business works.”
The Mazari Sharif International AgFair and Cashmere Exhibition marked Accelerating Sustainable Agriculture Program’s (ASAP) ninth agricultural trade show and third such fair in Mazari Sharif. The AgFairs, which began in January 2007, have drawn more than 425,000 participants in total. Upcoming AgFairs include the Kabul International Fresh Fruit and Vegetable AgFair in May 2009; the Ghazni AgFair in July 2009; and the Kabul International Pomegranate and Dried Fruit and Nut AgFair in October 2009.
USAID organizes the agricultural fairs in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Irrigation and Livestock (MAIL), the Export Promotion Agency of Afghanistan (EPAA), the Afghanistan Investment Support Agency (AISA), and the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI). |
