Office of Afghanistan Commercial Attache in Ottawa- Canada

Since trade counselor has been posted in Canada, Afghanistan’s exports to Canada have been increased by 38.2% and we are planning 50% increments on 2020.

As per Canada’s National Statistic Agency annual report;Afghanistan exports increased by 25.2 % to Canada comparing to 2017.

Abdul Hakim Nasiry Commercial Attaché of Afghanistan participated in Annual Convention & Trade Show (CPMAs) is a 3-day event held in April 2019 in Montreal, Canada. This event showcases products like farm-based products, packaging services, fresh marketing, vegetable products, to that of agricultural products and services associated with this field etc. in the Food & Beverage industry.
In addition,on the sideline of event,CA met with following entities and companies:
• Met along with transportation companies and discussed door to door shipment of Afghan goods to Canadian markets.
• Met with Licensed Custom Broker companies in order to provide facilitates in terms of documentations processes to Afghan exporters into Canadian market.
• Met with Board of directors of the CPMA and discussed Afghan traders’ participation in upcoming event which will be held in 2020.
• Met with different farming, labeling and packaging companies and delivering information regarding information potential investment opportunities in Afghanistan.
• Met with several Agri- food companies and different issues such as cold storage, mechanization & modern agricultural equipment’s and innovation have been discussed.

Abdul Hakim Nasiry Commercial Attaché of Afghanistan in Ottawa- Canada met along with Ms. Temmel policy advisor of Global Affairs Canada for Afghanistan .Nasiry has given information regarding major reforms and progress recently the Afghan Government made for example:
• Inauguration of air corridors with different countries.
• Revitalizing of Lapis lazuli route.
• Membership of World Trade Organization (WTO)
• One stop shop
• On arrival visa for businessmen
• National export strategy and roadmap for mining sector
• National trade policy
• Afghanistan as top 10 business environment improver during 2018 as per DBI World BanK Report.
• More than 20 piece of law have been approved such mining law, investment law, corporation law…..
• Establishing of High Economic Council and investment board chaired by H.E president in order to addressing investment and economic relevant issues.
• Establishing women chamber of commerce and industries in order to encouraging women entrepreneurs.
In addition potential investment opportunities and PADC conference which is supposed to be held on March 2019 have been discussed; in the meanwhile she added Afghanistan Commercial Attaché office will have full support of Global Affairs in term of, how to enhance bilateral trade between two countries and addressing potential investment opportunities especially in mining sector in Afghanistan.

Abdu Hakim Nasiry Afghanistan Commercial Attaché in Canada met along with Marta Recinos project Manager for Asia/Middle East of Trade Facilitation Organization (TFO), on December 18, 2019 and following issues have been discussed:
 Steps to Export to Canada
 Statistics in term of trade profile between Afghanistan and Canada.
 Standards and certification in order to further facilitation for Afghan exporters, it is going to assist Afghan trader to have information about Canadian market requirements.
 Canadian market access guide for Least Develop Countries (LDCs). And
 Discussed trade show which is supposed to be held April ,2019 in Toronto-Canada

In the meantime both side agreed to sign a MoU for further cooperation in term trade and SMEs

It shows strong political will of reforms.

Abdul Hakim Nasiry Commercial Attaché of Afghanistan in Canada has attended a business and investment conference which has been held in Toronto. The aims of this conference were to strength bilateral trade relationship between Afghanistan –Canada and introducing investment opportunities in Afghanistan.

In addition he kept light on government progress recently made it in term of economic and commercial policies, strategies and business regulatory system to the audience and also he has talked about incentives, the government of Afghanistan are going to provide for investors and some of them have been highlighted as below:
 Tariff on import of machinery for investment is zero
 Tariff on imports of raw material is 1 and 2.5 percent
 A very liberal investment law which give foreigners investors same right as domestic investors have.
 Now Afghanistan issue on arrival visa for businessman and investors
 Tariff on export has been removed almost.
It is mention-able we received a very positive response of global affairs of Canada in term of providing facilities to Afghan trader to have easy access to Canadian market.

We had a very productive meeting with Trade Facilitation Organization (TFO) and it is an organization with 38 years of experience in the areas of trade and development. In the meantime I would like to add that, they promised to have cooperation in the following areas:

The first component, train-the-trainers, aims to establish an exporter training platform implemented through lead Business Support Institutions in Afghanistan with an emphasis on women-focused BSIs.

With this component, the lead and associated BSIs will develop their technical skills in the field of international trade (including cross-border and regional trade) and will be equipped with the capacity to deliver trade training and support services to exporters and potential exporters from various sectors in a manner that will help these firms grow their export activities and contribute to the sustainable economic development and poverty alleviation in the country. This will include capacity building for BSIs that will allow them to respond to the needs of women-led businesses in the international trade arena. It is TFO Canada’s intent to strengthen analysis and delivery capacity of BSIs.

The exporter training component of this project will build on TFO Canada’s longstanding experience in adapting and implementing exporter training programs within developing countries, with an emphasis placed on women-led SMEs. TFO Canada has effectively employed a “train-the-trainers” or ToT approach through which the capacity of local BSIs is strengthened so they in turn can deliver trade training to local exporters. The ToT activities will be based upon materials developed and delivered by TFO Canada in many parts of the world. In the delivery of this proposed trade ToT activity in Afghanistan, TFO Canada will draw from these curricula but will customize it to reflect products/services, logistics, regulations and institutions from the country. We also see this as an excellent opportunity to include TFO Canada’s Lead Exporter Program, whereby experienced exporting companies from Afghanistan share their knowledge.

The second component of the proposed initiative will be focused on preparing and strengthening the capabilities of Afghan SMEs with an emphasis on women-led companies and their products in order to equip them with the necessary tools and knowledge to export to foreign markets, notably Canada. This will also prepare SMEs to be more competitive, thus positioning them to take advantage of new export opportunities that could be generated.
For the ex*****on of this component, the lead BSIs will work with TFO Canada in the selection of priority export sectors and SMEs with export potential. BSIs and sector specialists will conduct a feasibility and market potential study to select export sectors with the most potential in the neighbouring targeted export countries as well as Canada. Following the selection of the priority sectors, BSIs and sector specialists will identify, assess and select specific SME exporters that have the potential to export their goods to the targeted countries. The SMEs selected will need to be able to present themselves and their products in international markets and conduct formal exports including order processing and logistical matters as well as marketing and establishment of relationships with distributors and resellers in foreign markets. These SMEs will take part in exporter training program, receive advisory support to help them select and adapt products from their current product line most appropriate for export to the targeted countries benefit from technical assistance to help them develop appropriate export price lists for their products.
Beneficiary of the project and sectors
The beneficiaries of the first component will be the technical trade support officers of lead BSIs as well as related BSIs in Afghanistan. The primary direct beneficiaries of the second component will be the SMEs in the identified sectors in targeted areas of Afghanistan. SMEs will include both women and men led businesses.

In addition at the end of this meeting both side agreed to continue their bilateral partnership and this is a good opportunities in order to develop our private sector specially small and medium enterprises (SMEs), therefore it has been reported to the relevant directorate of Ministry of Industries and Commerce.